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James Fedosov can do a wheelie along the entire length of the Speed River Bicycle sales floor, one of the many reasons he’s an ideal candidate to own a bike shop.
I mean, check this out:
Cosmo Carere can’t replicate that feat in the business he founded more than 30 years ago but that's not the reason he recently sold his stake in Speed River to Fedosov and is now transitioning into the role of a Bike Guru Emeritus (or at least not the only reason.)
At 59 and after a series of personal tragedies over the last few years and a serious health scare involving his wife Karen, Carere has gained new perspective.
“It makes you step back and view life from a different lens,” says Carere, who is also the father of two boys in their 20s. “All that coupled with the fact that there's this super enthusiastic, very competent, good looking young guy who is keen on stepping in – it meshed really, really well.”
Founded in 1992, Speed River Bicycle is an institution in Guelph's cycling community. Carere shifts uncomfortably in his saddle when asked about 'legacy' but his shop started what is now the 300-member strong Guelph Cycling Club and he was in attendance at the inaugural meeting of the Guelph Off-Road Bicycling Association (GORBA), which caters to the mountain-biking set and builds and maintains trails throughout the city.
Switch from 'legacy' and ask about 'community' and Carere starts talking with enthusiasm
“I've always strived to be part of the community,” he says. “And I think that's what's helped us in making actual connections with people. You're part of a community and you contribute to it in the best way you can.”
That sense of place is part of what drew Tim Plunkett to the shop more than 15 years ago. Raised on a dairy farm just outside of town, Plunkett went from part-time shop employee to co-owner in just a few short years, choosing a life in a bike shop with Carere over academic pursuits at the University of Guelph.
“I was looking at doing a Master's and I got rejected for funding. Around that same time, Cos was looking for a partner and I was like 'I'm in,'” Tim says. “It was probably a really bad business decision because I had no clue. And I have no regrets at all.”
That resolve was tested during COVID when the bike industry went from uncertainty to an unprecedented boom virtually overnight. With everyone stuck at home with nothing to do, the demand for service and bikes went through th roof and sent the Speed River Bicycle staff into survival mode as they tried to keep up under constantly changing restrictions.
With Carere and Plunkett as co-owners and Fedosov running the service department, it was full-tilt go time for months on end.
“I still have nightmares. At first it was like, 'is this store gonna be here six months from now?' And then it was, everybody wants a bike and we can't get them,”
Fedosov, 31, says. “We couldn't have our door open for service, we had to go and pick up every single one of those bikes and then drop them back off so I turned into a full time driver for a season. It almost killed me. But if you want to stress test a team or a partnership, that's a pretty effective way to do it.”
That experience, coupled with heartbreak on the family front, planted the seed in Carere's mind that it was time to live his life differently. At the same time, Fedosov found himself wanting to be more involved. He and Plunkett regularly spend their off days together riding absurd distances and among that jumble of circumstance and relationships, the transition began to take shape.
“James came along just when those ideas were coming into my head,” Carere says. “He gets what we're doing here and he, Tim and I all gel together. If it wasn't for that, then we wouldn't be having this conversation.”
It took nearly two years to get a deal done but things were finalized in early November. Plunkett and Fedosov now co-own the shop they started in as part-time employees and Carere is still around, but without the responsibilities that come with ownership.
And yet some things remain unchanged. Carere and Fedosov, a generation apart and representing both the legacy and the future of the business, tell virtually the same story when asked what gets them out of bed and into the shop every morning.
“The door opens and you just never know who's going to come through. It could be some local professional here to buy an electric, full suspension mountain bike worth thousands of dollars or it could be some unhoused fellow who needs his flat fixed right now because he's got to get somewhere and you help them back to back,” Fedosov says. “I love that. That's my favourite part of the job.”
For Carere, the idea of bicycles as a bridge between disparate elements of the same community is appealing.
“The two of them sitting there chatting about bikes, that's what makes you really think 'this is kind of cool.' We attract everybody and then everybody kind of relates on the same level.” he says.
And so the principles upon which Speed River Bicycle was built – commitment to community, a deep appreciation and respect for staff, a love of bikes – will continue as Fedosov takes over and Carere slowly transitions out. He will continue to work a couple of days a week, in part because he has been in bike shops since he was 18-years-old and isn't quite sure what he would do with himself otherwise.
“I'm gonna ride more, I'm gonna spend some time at the cottage. But I'm not taking any cruises, I'm not starting to golf,” Carere says. “I mean, it's cycling. It's something that's a net positive in the world.
That's the only way I've ever thought about it.”
Drew Edwards is an avid cyclist whose mom bought his first "real" bike from Cosmo Carere at Speed River Bicycle in 1993 (he's still got it.) He can be reached at [email protected].
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