Kirk Newell

Kirk's Bike Shop, Inc. was founded by Kirk and Trudie Newell, husband and wife. Finding it difficult to enjoy bike rides together, as former bike racer Kirk kept sprinting ahead and then coming back to "see how she was doing", they bought a Jack Taylor tandem in the summer of 1977. This allowed Trudie to "get up to speed" with road riding and kept the couple together on their weekly rides. Through the past 30 years of raising their two boys, Dustin and Garret, and watching their business grow, they continued to ride the bike together. Shortly after the tragic death of their oldest son, Dustin, in September of 2000, they bought a Rans Screamer recumbent tandem and began training in earnest for a bicycle trip to Europe where Dustin had spent his junior year in college. They planned to visit the places and people that their son had known during his last year of life. After the trip, they began putting more and more miles on the bike and began riding with members of tandem clubs in Los Angeles and San Diego that they had met during their journey. Today, they continue to ride with these clubs, spreading the "gospel" of recumbent, tandem and Bike Friday folding bike riding to experts and novice riders alike.

EMAIL: kirksbik@pacbell.net