A Self-Taught Bicycle Mechanic
Tim Richardson’s mom, Doris Bohannon, says he’s been riding bikes since he
① had been
three years old and wrenching since not long after that. And she should know. She’s
② the one
who taught him how to fix bikes — by bringing home trashed bikes from the dump for her kids
③ to tinker
with. “Mom’s the mechanic in the family,” says Richardson, who grew up in Odd, West Virginia, population 832.
“④ Being
Being in a rural area, you either learned how to fix your bike yourself, or you didn’t ride.” That ethos has carried over to his bike shop, Shenandoah Bicycle Company, in Harrisonburg, Virginia,
⑤ where
customers are encouraged to figure out their own bike dilemmas.