Holiday letter

Dear family and friends,

It has been cold and frosty the past few mornings here in Portland. With Christmas nearly upon us it got me to thinking about the annual Christmas letter that we never seem to get written. Well this year is the year to actually get one done!

It has been a very busy year for us this year with many changes! Linda and I began the year with a trip to Maui in February to visit an old friend. It was a great break from the wet Tacoma weather, the regular routine, and a great time to catch up with Sonny. It was fortunate that we took a break then as the rest of the year has been a whirlwind. At times it felt as if we were just along for the ride, events carrying us along.

Pretty much ever since Rachel & Josh moved to Portland our eldest daughter has waged a campaign to get the family to follow. This year the campaign stepped up a notch as Rachel started to send Linda & I job and house possibilities and announced that we would be grandparents later in the year!

With all of the kids out of the house (Epiphany living in Seattle and nephew Jason in Lacy) we began seriously contemplating the possibility of a move. Call it karma, fate, kismet, the hand of God, sometimes it seems like things are just meant to be. In the beginning of March we listed our house and started looking in earnest for jobs in Portland. By the beginning of May we had a signed offer on the house, Linda was living at Rachel & Josh’s working her new medical billing job and apartment hunting in Portland. I was splitting my time between closing Spoke & Sprocket, our business of 17 years and training for my new position at REI in Clackamas. I was splitting my time living with the rest of the family at the ‘Hotel Ferdaszewski’ as Rachel & Josh’s home had been dubbed, and living in our home in Tacoma as we moved toward closing.

We had the shop closed the end of May and our house sale closed in June. We spent the summer in an apartment in SE Portland while house hunting. By September we had closed on a house in NE Portland! It is a nice Cape Cod in a wonderful neighborhood and literally (and I mean that in the truest sense of the word) across from the bike path I take to work each day.

In the middle of the summer, Epiphany also succumbed to the siren song of Portland and moved south, finding employment with a local bike shop and a coffee shop. Our granddaughter Sophia Epiphany Ferdaszewski was born the day before thanksgiving! She is healthy, beautiful and very good natured and of course dearly loved by all!.

After Christmas Epiphany heads further south to spend time studying bookbinding at a Buddhist monastery in Sonoma, so things keep changing!

Where the heck...

Living out of boxes is just grand! Worse yet, is living out of boxes, most of which are in a 10x20 storage locker. A storage locker that is stuffed wall to wall, floor to ceiling! More times than I care to recount we have been saying "where the heck is my..." The answer is usually something along the lines of "It was in one of the square brown boxes" or something along that line. The missing box is usually in the BACK of the storage locker.

The thing is, we have temporarily downsized from our 3 bedroom house (with an additional office, full basement, and a single car garage) to a 2 bedroom apartment.  In addition we owned a business that occupied a little over 2000' square feet of retail space. After closing the shop and selling the house we have a lot of stuff to store, and not a lot of space to store it!

A good majority of the stuff is in the aforementioned 10x20 storage locker, or in a (not so stuffed) 5x10 storage locker. The rest is in our small apartment, much of it still in boxes.

The good news is that the business is indeed closed, the house is sold (the check is even in the bank) and we are now settling into life in Portland. We are enjoying our new life in Portland. We live right on the MAX light rail line and a bike path, either of which takes me straight to work at the Clackamas REI. Linda takes the MAX into downtown for work, stopping off at the gym (also on the MAX line) most mornings.

Our trusty Subaru, which has gotten a hefty workout the last couple of months as I closed the shop in Tacoma, worked at REI in Clackamas, and we packed up the house, now sits most of the time. We ride bikes, walk or use Portland's excellent public transportation system.

We can easily get pretty much anywhere we need to go via bus, rail, or bike. It is pretty rare that we drive the car these days.Except when we need to haul something to or from the storage locker that is.

Spoke & Sprocket closing after 20 years in business!

Yes, you read that right, Spoke & Sprocket will be closing it’s doors for good. Our last day of business will be Saturday May 28th.

As some of you may know, our elder daughter Rachel & her husband live in Portland and are planning on starting a family soon. Linda & I want to be close to our grandchildren and have been contemplating a move to Portland.

 Recently I was approached by another bike shop that wants to purchase all of our tools, stands, & workbenches. It is an opportunity too good to pass up and it pushed our plans forward. Jim Finnell’s impending retirement and Epiphany’s move to Seattle also influenced our decision and timing.
We will continue to be open on our regular schedule (Tuesday—Saturday 10am to 6pm) until may 28th. We will continue normal operations through the end of April. If you need an overhaul, tune-up, repair, bike fit, or even a new bike there is still time for us to serve your needs. In May we will be working on closing out inventory and fixtures and will have a reduced ability to perform repairs and fittings. Look for an announcement regarding some fun stuff happening in May!
We want to thank Harvey & Diane Lister who started Spoke & Sprocket and sold us the shop in 1993, the many vendors who worked with us, and of course all the loyal customers that have supported us all these years. It has been a great ride! We could not have done it without you!
In the fall of 1993 Linda and I purchased Spoke & Sprocket from Harvey and Diane Lister.
Over the years we have changed locations once, and remodeled both locations on more than one occasion.
We have had the opportunity to work with a number of great, supportive vendors and sale representatives, many of which have become friends.
The shop has truly been a family business. It has been a place for our daughters Rachel & Epiphany to grow, work and learn as well as two of our nephews, Jason & Nathan.
Many of our employees had their first work experience at Spoke & Sprocket. Former employees have moved on to jobs with higher levels of responsibility joining our nation’s armed forces, becoming mechanics for professional race teams, managers within the bicycle industry, paramedics, airplane mechanics, artists, urban planners, chefs, and television newscasters. More important to us, many remain our friends to this day.
Our customers have been the best in the world! We have been blessed with a staunchly loyal customer base, many who have built shop fixtures, helped out with remodels, moving, STP support, and set up & tear-down at bike expo among other things. Once again, just like our employees, many of you have become great friends and riding partners.
Thank you to each and everyone of you who has helped to make Spoke & Sprocket a success!


Jim Finnell, Rachel Ferdaszewski, Epiphany Couch, Jim & Linda Couch

NAHBS 2008

Friday February 6, 2008

I played hooky from the shop today and headed down to Portland for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS). It was a lot of fun to go to a trade show, not as an exhibitor, or even really as a buyer, but just to look!

Today was an industry only day at the show, so there were not a lot of crowds. It made it easy to really see things, take photos, and visit. I had plenty of time to see all of the booths and visit with many friends in the industry that I see all to rarely.

There was a lot of nice eye candy at the show. To give you a little taste, here are some of the photos I took today. I will try to post some more tomorrow. The NAHBS runs Saturday and Sunday this weekend in Portland. NAHBS 2008 website.

Colorful Pegoretti Paint!


Richard Sachs shows off one of his creations.

Some builders are still pinning & brazing. This head tube is from a Palermo frameset.

Palermo seat cluster.

Check back tomorrow for more NAHBS photos!

Jim Couch