Birch Bay community bike shop patches local hole

The 98230 zip code now has its own bike shop. 

Through Birch Bay Bike Shop, residents and visitors of Birch Bay and Blaine have easy access to bike rentals, sales and service throughout the year. 

Birch Bay Bike Shop owner John Roy, who opened the shop in February and started running it full time in April, said he hopes his new shop will be an asset to the community.

“I want people who maybe are a little intimidated, maybe they haven’t ridden in a while, and they’re out here and they want to join in the fun,” Roy said. “I’ll work on their old bike and get it going again, or we’ll find something for them to buy or rent. I just want people to get on bikes and enjoy Birch Bay.”

Roy bought the storefront at 4823 Alderson Road, unit 105, right by the C Shop in early 2022 with the intention of opening a business. Not yet sure what he would sell, Roy talked to Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Information Center staff who said the area was in need of a bike shop. Roy said it had been a dream of his for almost 30 years to open a bike shop.

Once that was decided, the plan was for Roy and his wife, Carolyn, to run the shop together. But Roy said Carolyn, who has 30 years of experience working with people experiencing homelessness, was needed at her job with the Lighthouse Mission Ministries, a homeless shelter in Bellingham.

“We moved out here in December of ’20 and wanted to be part of the community, and looked at several different ways of doing it,” Roy said. “[We] ended up landing on the need for a bike shop, and rentals and repairs, so we bought this little unit and opened up a shop.”

Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce executive director Danielle Gaughen said one of the most frequent questions the chamber gets from visitors is where they can rent bikes. She said the chamber, which is just across the way from the shop in Terrell Creek Landing, is thrilled to have the Birch Bay Bike Shop open in the community.

“We are excited that John specializes in rental, repair, sales and service,” Gaughen said. “Visitors and community members have been asking for bike rentals for quite a while, and we are happy to send them to Birch Bay Bike Shop for rentals and all their biking needs.”

The shop rents and sells Kona e-bikes, which are $45 to rent for the two-hour minimum. (John said an hour just isn’t enough time to do much on a bike.) It carries classic, three-speed beach cruisers and gravel bikes from State Bicycle Co. and Aventon e-bikes as well. 

Roy also finds used bikes to refurbish and sell for cheap. He said he doesn’t make much money off those but it’s something he’s enjoyed doing since before he opened the store. 

“It’s important to upcycle and recycle these old bikes,” he said. “It’s a good way to get people on a bike.”

Roy has been riding and working on bikes since he was in high school. He grew up in Clackamas, Oregon and was trained by the United Bicycle Institute, a technical bike mechanics school based out of Ashland, Oregon. He later moved to Seattle and then Bellingham where he worked at Franz Gabl’s Ski and Bike Shop and the old Kulshan Cycles, which used to be in what is now the Trek shop in Bellingham, in the ’90s. During that time, he guided bike tours in the San Juan Islands through Whatcom County Parks and Recreation Department and taught a cycling physical education class at Western Washington University. 

Roy recently left a sales job at the end of March to focus on the shop. Currently, the shop is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and by appointment, as Roy lives just down the road on Birch Bay Drive. 

Roy said shop hours will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in May. He also said Carolyn will likely be in the shop on weekends and their Yorkie, Henry, will be in occasionally.