The Favorite Shop

Volume 3, Issue 7, August 1996

This piece, an obituary for a bike shop that looms huge on the roadmap of my life, is a bittersweet one to revisit. Seal Rock Cycles, the shop in question, was so much fun. We were way out in the Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco, Geary and 28th, well before the gentrification hammer came down on the whole city. I am not sure I became a better mechanic here, since it was a midpoint between the more in-depth educations I received at first Velo City on Stanyan Street and subsequently at The Bike Trip in Santa Cruz, but I sure learned some shit about life.

Earl Cotter, the proprietor of Seal Rock, was a beautiful madman. He knew everyone, remembered everyone, had salacious stories to tell about everyone, and he exuded enough frenetic energy to power a small city. It was through working here that I got my first writing assignments at California Bicyclist, went on my first trip to Interbike, and also regularly got my legs ripped off by Mitch Bramlett and Devlin and others as I began to really learn about racing. Matt Harvey working there as well, phasing out of the shop as I phased in, several years before he went on to turn Enduro Bearings into what it is now (after also developing full suspension bikes for Bianchi and hubs for White Industries). It was Matt who called me a couple years ago, informing me that Earl had passed away. Cancer does not care how much energy or zany charisma any of us might have.

Every word of this piece is accurate. I have since seen plenty of bike shops with espresso machines, but never ones that were bolted to the workbench and regularly overpressurized for sport. God damn we had some fun. For best results, read this column while listening to Debaser, real loud. Rest In Mayhem, Earl. Thanks for everything.