Gallup's New Bike Shopby Chuck Van Drunen
Ryan Tsosie should be thanked by any regional human who has slightest desire to pedal two wheels. Despite Gallup’s great trails and the shameless promotion of itself as a biking destination, our municipality has not had a bike shop for some time . . . until now.
Ryan’s shop, Six Six Cycles & Boards, located at 110 E. Coal Ave (across from the La Montañita Co-op) is now open to service and fix bikes as well as supply the needed necessities of tubes, lube, maps, and parts.
Born in Gallup of the Bitterwater and Red Bottom People Clans, Ryan was swept away to Virginia for most of his youth. But he returned to Gallup when he was 16 and lived in the Ya-Ta-Hey area. At this time Ryan was racing bikes across the state, as well as playing quarterback for Tohatchi High School. An unfortunate brain injury during football put Ryan in the hospital for 3 month and required a titanium plate in his skull.
Ryan graduated from Tohatchi in 2000 and moved to Albuquerque where he continued his cycling career. In the need for work and in order to get cheap bike parts he took a job at Albuquerque Bike Center, where he learned bike mechanics for three years.
In 2003 at 9 a.m. Ryan was riding his bike to work when an ignorant motorist turned into a liquor store driveway and ran Ryan over. Severely hitting his head again, Ryan lost his short term memory for a few months. During this time he returned to Gallup to heal and after recovering took a bike mechanic job at the old Scoreboard shop.
Ryan worked at the Scoreboard till 2005 fixing and building bikes till it closed, and then worked for High Mesa Bikes & Gear, which also closed. Wanting to continue with his bike skills Ryan moved back to Albuquerque and was the service manager at Fat Tire Cycles from 2008 to 2010.
Now with over 10 years experience in fixing and maintaining bikes, Ryan is back in Gallup, and this time in business for himself. If you need a flat tire fixed, a wheel trued, a chain lubed, shifting fixed, or just information on where to bike, Ryan is available Tues-Sat, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., he can be reached at 505-553-6264, or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Thank you Ryan! |
