The Peddler Bike Shop - Austin, Texas

Aubrey (A.J.) Camp - Owner
I started jumping my sisters bike off the steps at our house when I was eight. I had no idea that bmx was an actual organised, legitimate thing. When I found out that there were riders traveling the world making a living having fun on their bicycles it blew my mind. With my parents support, I lived bmx 24/7 after that. Over the past two decades I've gotten to know and ride with most of the very best bmx riders in the world and had a helluva lot of fun riding. I'm getting older now but bmx will always be my roots in the bicycle garden and I still ride my little bike. I finally stuck with something! Sorry about the karate lessons mom. I can't really remember just when I started to ride road and mountain bikes but that has become something that I enjoy greatly as well. If you join us on one of our shop rides you'll see what I mean. We ride, joke around, and smile-even when the ride is a gutbuster. (Check the message board for more info on shop rides and events.)

A Note From Jeremy About Aubrey: When I first rode by the Peddler I was ecstatic- I couldn't believe that there was going to be a bike shop right here in my neighborhood. i rode up to the door a bit trepidatious thinking" I bet the owner is going to treat me like an idiot" and I was skeptical-the head shop that had inhabited the space only a month before didn't even have rolling papers. My assumptions were quickly dispatched by the jolly ginger who owned the space. I thought to myself that "This guy actually knows his stuff....and he's friendly too!" I like the cut of A.J.'s jib, and after a year of knowing him I'd consider him one of my closest friends. He has fantastic taste in music, he can handle his bike-or any bike for that matter as well as anyone I know even though sometimes I get nervous when he's behind me because he seems to enjoy crashing Ryan and I. (Sidenote by A.J- Whatchu talkin bout Willis?) He's a hell of a lot of fun to hang out with and he has a very generous spirit. A lot has happended in A.J.'s life this past year- he and Heather were married and now they're having a kid and I'm happy to have been there through it all. (Sidenote #2 It has indeed been a year of change for me, with the shop, my wife and now our baby on the way! It's unbelievable.)

Jeremy Jagodzinski
What can I say about this Wisconsin cheese lover? He's tall, he wears a skateboard helmet while road biking, he makes really good food-that's a few things. Basically this guy looks at the cycling status quo and then says, "To heck with that. I'm going to ride my bike however I want to." But that isn't the only reason to admire him. He also refuses to get in a car to go to a riding spot, he'll either ride his bike there or else he likely won't go. At first I didn't see the wisdom in that but now see that Jeremy is pretty much a Buhdda on a bike. A tall, thin, funny accent having Buhdda. Ask him to say "Oregon" when you see him at the shop.

A Note From Jeremy: I love to ride. I can't remember my first ride, or what inspired me to start riding for recreation in the late 80-'s, but bicycling has been berry berry good to me these past two decades. From riding through the flat farm country of Wisconsin and fantasizing about the day when I would finally catch one of Mr Bruss's cows asleep on it's feet to racing with UT when I fled from the Great White North, from riding the Rockies on a summer tour of this beautiful country up until the day when I decided that I didn't need or really want to get into a car to get where i wanted to go... it has all been fantastic fun. I began wrenching on bikes out of necessity or rather obsession I didn't want to wait for someone else to fix my bike when it broke down( good luck trying to find somenone to fix your bike in Wagon Mound, New Mexico). A well tuned bicycle can be your best friend, ready to venture forth at a moments notice on the most outlandish of adventures- and hold your beer while you go. More so than any other job I've ever had, working at the Peddler makes me feel good. I'm not really trying to save the world. I just love to ride and i know that I'm not alone in that.

Ryan Timm
Another guy from the land of the lumberjack world championships-Wisconsin to you and me. What the hell?!? The Peddler is a magnet for dairy farmers I guess. Whatever, when Ryan's not dreaming of bicycle dance parties he's usually riding around pulling something on his Bob trailer. I think that's how he leaves us choking on his dust when we do a road ride. He too is an advocate of the funny looking helmet-I'm seeing a trend here. He rides his Italian made Basso around and can be heard saying "My life is awesome" on a regular basis. For the record, I've never heard him say Oregon.

Joe Duke
Joe's our newest face around the shop, and I'm pretty sure all the other guys at the shop we're in high school when Joe was just coming into the world. We don't think much about that though. Joe's cool. He can hang with us. We're glad to have him around helping out with ideas and being a representative of a nice guy with a budding cycling habit.....So I went easy on Joe. Are there no jokes at his expense, no teasing even?? Well hopefully Joe will be around a while, and when he's a little older he'll get his. Here's what he has to say about his experiences with bikes.

A Note From Joe: My name is Joe Duke and I pretty much stand for the concept that cars suck. That's one of the main reasons I ride my bike all of the time. However I also just enjoy riding and working on bikes. My dad is the one who really got me started on bicycles. He helped me build up my first bikes and walked me through a lot of the basics on bicycle mechanics. After about a year of this kind of basic tutoring I started going to the brand new bike shop near my house-The Peddler. Not too long after I became a frequent customer. I asked Aubrey if I could volunteer around the shop which he agreed to. So now I spend a lot of time over here, learning even more about bikes and helping where I can.

Ok so I've taken some liberties with my description of the "team" here at the Peddler and now I have to straighten up a bit and say that these guys are all major parts of the drivetrain that keeps my shop on the road. The accomplishments that the Peddler has made since opening wouldn't have been possible without their outstanding work. These guys won't lead you wrong, come see us.

- Aubrey

The Shop