Gavin, Paul, Kevin, Els and Jeff
Paul Johnson (Surly)
Paul "Surly" Johnson comes to Classic Cycle from the cycling Mecca of Minneapolis
(not far from Frostbite Falls), Minnesota. In 1984, Paul started his cycling
career at Erik's Cycle Shop working as an underage illegal. He was officially
hired at age 14. After a nine-year apprenticeship he earned his Masters in
Cycling Science at County Cycles in Minneapolis.
Paul then went on to wrench for the National team at the '96 Olympic Games. He also traveled with the team to the exotic places of Morocco, Taiwan, and Newark, New Jersey. He toured with the team through 5 world championships, 18 countries, and 4 Tour de France Society races, working more than 235 days supporting the best races in the U.S.
Paul can be found cycling the local roads on one of his many exotic speed instruments or at the bakery. He's never met a donut he didn't like. Personal motto: "I am therefore I think."
Jeff Groman (Cranky)
How does a guy who graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in environmental science settle into the cycle trade? Go figure. Jeff's roots in cycling go back to the Brennan Cycle Shop in Irvington, New Jersey, but nowadays, Jeff is the owner of Classic Cycle. He and his wife Els opened their first shop in 1985 as the famous Sack's Feed & Cycle in Kingston, WA. Imagine a cycle shop right in the middle of the chicken scratch, Carharts, leashes, rain boots, and gardening supplies... it was a legend in the making and the only place where you could buy a live chicken and a bike tube in the Northwest. By 1990, sick and tired of picking hay out of the chain rings, Jeff moved the cycle shop across the street in Kingston. In 2000 needing more space the shop was moved to Bainbridge Island. Today you will find the shop at 740 Winslow Way, Bainbridge Island.
A packrat by nature, Jeff's interests in old stuff having to do with bicycles has elevated him to archivist and historian in the world of cycle racing and cycle collecting. The new location proved to be a perfect home to share his collection of antiquities to the pubic.
In 2007 he published a book called "The Six-day bicycle races" and created a DVD with the same title.
Determined to maintain his boyish figure, Jeff can be seen riding the flats on his racing tricycle or some vintage steel bike made by an obscure builder in Transylvania.
Kevin Markham (Sarge)
Kevin came into the cycling world after retiring from the Army. Always into fitness, having run 5k, 10k's, 1/2 marathons and 1 full marathon, he started looking more at cycling. He fell in love with the bike culture. Kevin brings a smile and great enthusiasm to the shop.
Gavin O'Grady (The Legend)
Gavin “The Legend” O’Grady is the newest full-time member of the Classic Cycle staff and splits his time between the wrenching and developing the Classic Cycle Fitting services. Jeff sold him his first racing bike in 1982 when Jeff was the manager at Marty’s Reliable Cycle in Morristown, NJ. Two years later Gavin started racing for Morris Velosports Cycling Club that was sponsored by Marty’s Reliable. He began doing mechanic work for Marty’s in 1984 and served his apprenticeship to a being a journeyman mechanic through 1987. Since then he has worked at several premier bike shops around the U.S. including Adam’s Avenue Bicycle and The Mountain Bike Warehouse in San Diego, CA; River City Bicycles in Portland, OR; and Cronometro in Madison, WI. Gavin was a U.S. National Team member from 1986-1990 and a professional in 1991. He road for several squads including: Team Crest, Cannondale and Poland Springs-Tommasini. His career spanned from the Lemond years to the beginning of the Armstrong period and included over 50 career victories including a stage of the 1988 Coor’s Classic and one of the1988 Olympic Trials races. This earned him a spot as an alternate on the 1988 Olympic Road team. Gavin’s fitting experience began with the Fit-Kit in 1987 and since then he has learned from his frame builders and the staff at Cronometro about bike fit, geometry and design. He most recently earned his Fit Technician Certification from the Body Geometry (BG) Fit School at the Specialized Bicycle Component University (SBCU) in Morgan Hill, CA.
Click on Gavin’s photo for the complete story of “The Legend” and several photos from his racing days. (coming soon)
The bike "kids"
These high school kids start when they are freshman in High School and many come back for several years while back home from college. They help us on the weekends and during the summer. It would be hard to run the bike barn (rentals) without their help. It is fun to see them grow up and to teach them how to fix bikes.
Zach McDonald
Zach won 2nd Place in Cyclocross in the National Championship in 2007
Zach is a 2008 Junior National Champion in Cyclocross. He also stood third on the podium at the Roubaix Cyclocross World Cup in 2009.
