Slow is Forever.
Scenic Routes started as a fever dream shared between two friends in the dining room of a San Francisco Victorian apartment in the early months of the covid-19 pandemic. The table was pushed aside and replaced with a single stand where friends and neighbors were invited to hand over their bikes to be tinkered with, practiced on, and patched up just well enough to provide a small ounce of joy during those dark and uncertain days.
Those same bikes that rolled down the stairs of that Hayes street apartment and onto the newly car free city streets now roll into our storefront on Balboa Street to be tinkered with, cranked on, and patched back together with far more confidence and expertise than we were able to provide at our humble beginnings.
It is because of those of you who gave us your trust in those early days (and those of you who have found us along the way) that Scenic Routes has turned into a fully fledged, busy, working bike shop, complete with mechanical stands and hats embroidered with our slogan! So yes, Scenic Routes IS a bike shop, but at our core remains the foundational goal of helping our community find joy in times of strife and darkness by means of the bicycle. We believe that the bicycle is the one genuinely utopian machine that human beings have ever built. What else brings immense joy the moment you're on it, builds confidence, promotes public health, encourages environmental stewardship and enhances community while still getting from point A to B? Beyond the bicycle, our core beliefs are as follows:
We believe in working together. We welcome and respect diversity of experience, identity and opinion, and believe that collaboration is a powerful tool for social change.
We believe in cities. We believe in the neighborhood and strengthening diverse communities by gathering together through shared interests and common spaces.
We believe we need to stop throwing so much away. We believe that respecting and connecting to the world around us leads to more livable communities. We practice and encourage waste reduction and reuse, while prolonging the life of bicycles, promoting cycling, and teaching environmental stewardship.
We believe in community. We believe in cultivating spaces where people are allowed to exist without expectation of monetary exchange or labor. We want to exist as a robust public place and fight for more equitable public space in all parts of our cities.
You (yes you!) are welcome to roll into the shop with all of your questions, concerns, and fears as they relate to the bicycle and the world. You can come behind the counter and watch as we bring your bike back to life, or take a seat upon our little couch and indulge in a cup of coffee and one of the baked goods that seem to appear every weekend. Scenic Routes is a place that only exists in its truest form when it is filled with laughter and chaos and noise. We understand that your bike is more than a bike, more than a toy or a means of exercise, but an integral piece of your life that gives you the freedom to navigate the city and the hills with speed, comfort, and joy.
Love,
The Scenic Routes Team
