A new record has been set by Shon’s Bike and Ski. On Aug. 1 one of their bikes literally flew out the door.
Ward Taylor of Nelson called owner Shon Neufeld around 3 p.m. that day to let him know he would be flying in to acquire a new bike from Shon’s bike shop. Ward rented an airplane from Nelson and flew in to the Nakusp Airport, where Shon met him. Shon brought him into the store to fit him with a new Marin bike and accessories and subsequently took the bike apart in three or four pieces to fit in the back of his little Cessna. Ward and his bike then took off to fly back to Nelson.
Shon indicated that Nelson has four bike shops, not to mention the ones in Castlegar and when asked what would make Shon’s so special as to inspire such an undertaking, Shon replied, “It’s the building.” Located on Broadway St. in Nakusp’s renovated Opera House, the building’s history is a point of interest on it’s own.
At the time of our interview, there were two European bike tourists in the store enjoying some of Janis’s paninis while waiting for Shon to finish tuning up their bikes. Both Shon and Janis agreed their current business could not have been supported by their previous location in Kaslo. Given Kaslo’s population and remote location, travelers had to go quite a bit out of their way to reach them.
However, with Nakusp lying at an intersection of highways and their current centrally located operation in a heritage building that still holds preserved artifacts, they were able to take advantage of much-needed local and tourist traffic for developing their business.
About their fly-in customer from Nelson Janis added, “He knew us back when we were in Kaslo. We had that relationship and he wanted his next bicycle to come from us too. We had a bike that would suit him and Shon showed it to him and Ward loved it. So we fitted it in the back of his plane and he even sent me a picture from his flight back, which we posted on our Facebook page.”