Staff

Paul Nicholson, Abbot
Paul is unique in that he recognizes his own limitations. What responsible man would run off and open a bike shop to win a $5 bet? You know the old joke: How do you make a small fortune in the bike business? Answer: Start with a large fortune!
He laid a strong foundation for a life of irresponsible choices by making a responsible one – marrying a strong, capable woman and having two great kids who must have got mostly their mother’s genes. He follows the same principle in his business practices. He hires great people who love bicycles and bicyclists so that everyone would attribute the entertaining atmosphere in his shops to his own brilliant management. In this manner, Paul managed a carefree life among the world’s nicest people – the ones who live the bicycle way of life.

Ardas Khalsa, Bookkeeper
Ardas Khalsa (aka Susan) came to us from H&R Block. She told me that she just needed a change, but it seems like she must have been generating too many audits as we have already been audited twice since she took over. But it’s o.k., since they are sending us money back. Her husband is the chief financial guy at Golden Temple Granola. So if you have any questions about granola or taxes, talk to Ardas.

Matt Ritzow, General Manager
When he isn’t overseeing the operations of the Paul’s Empire, Matt enjoys collecting pictures of himself holding large fish that he has caught (or so he claims). He also releases all of the large fish that he allegedly catches so we have yet to see proof that he isn’t merely taking pictures of the same plastic fish in different exotic locations.
In addition to his fishing delusions, Matt for many years has been one of Oregon’s premier road racers. If you need advice about road bikes, road racing, racing tactics the racing scene, talk to Matt, whose expertise in this area is real, unlike the fish. Matt rides a Madone 6.5 and a Fisher HiFi Pro, a Raleigh Team, and he commutes daily on his Trek Portland. Favorite Ride: To the Nearest Fishin’ Hole.

Michael Martin, Shop Manager at W. 11th Street
Ever since his first attempt at riding a neighbor’s two-wheeler ended in a collision with a parked car back in 1956, Michael has been living a “Bicycle Way of Life”. Along the way he has explored just about every aspect of cycling – from commuting to racing, to long-distance touring. Michael likes to “ride them, fix them, sell them and build ‘em” A cross-country bicycle trip that led him to Eugene from Pennsylvania, also passed through Urbana, Illinois where he first met Paul, his future employer. If you’re interested in going for a ride up the nearest hill and need a companion or just want advice on where to explore next on a bicycle, give Michael a call, or stop in at the 3870 West 11th shop. Michael rides a Trek Madone 5.2, and a Trek Fuel EX8. His favorite ride: Any ride that goes uphill both ways.

Rod Bautista, Shop Manager at 5th Street
Rod is the manager of the 5th Street store and the head of the Bicycle Way of Life physics department. He wears the additional hats of chief electric bicycle mechanic and unofficial company therapist. Check out our new 5th street mountain bike store.

Rob Craft, Shop Manager at 6th Street
Many of us consider Rob to be the “old wise man” on our staff. Although he’s really not that old, he’s been entertaining folks with dramas from bicycle racing’s past since before I was born. He is currently compiling a biography for this page, but it could be a while to distill all those decades of experience into anything short of a novel. Rob Rides: A really fast motorcycle. Favorite Ride: Anything with good pavement and lots of curves.

Joe Peck, Shop Manager at Alder Street [Email Joe]
Joe defected from the dark side (serving cars) to the light side – may the force be with him. Joe came to us from Les Schwab, he says that he needed a job where he wouldn’t have to shave as often. Joe and his partner recently had a beautiful baby girl. Joe owns a multitude of bikes and just got a Chariot Cougar 2 trailer so he can take his daughter along for the ride. In addition to his many hobbies Joe has impressive collection of socks. If you ask to see his socks, in the month of February you’ll get a 10% discount on accessories.

Jon Tranberg, Mechanic
Jon is a recent graduate of the school hard knocks. Jon’s specialty is working on all of those tricky shock forks and hydraulic brakes. Favorite Ride: Anyplace with a loading dock.
We are not sure Jon rides – we have not been able to conclusively verify that Jon knows how to ride a bike. The company is offering a $5 reward to anyone (company employees and relatives excluded) who can provide photographic proof of Jon’s ability to ride without training wheels. Photoshop altered images disqualified.

Aaron Shelton, Master Mechanic
Aaron began his career at Paul’s as a high school intern in 2001. Hard as it is to believe, he has been with the company ever since! In addition to Aaron becoming one of our most expert mechanics, he is an expert welder, an accomplished bowler, and a series champion autocross driver. You can meet Aaron, a mainstay of our company, at the 5th Av. store. Aaron rides a Gary Fisher G.E.D., and commutes on a Bianchi Milano.

Mitch Boyer, Mechanic
Mitch is one of the few to graduate from shop kid to regular Bicycle Way of Life staff. What were we thinking. Mitch is interested in everything. (focus Mitch, focus).

Cheyenne Bailey, Mechanic
Cheyenne is the proverbial ancient student. He plans to stay matriculated until he qualifies for social security. We are putting him in here because he is as big as two regular employees, so he is hard to miss. Besides, he needs walk around money all year long, so we can’t shoe him out of the shop, even in the dead of winter.

Isaac Johnson, Mechanic
Your tireless editor, having failed to obtain any information from the subject of this bio, can only discharge his responsibility to introduce staff members to the public based on his forensic investigation. I have in my hand, for example, a list references, that indicate that Isaac is an experienced professional cook. If you have eaten at Bon Apetit or McFadden’s in Portland or at the Cafe Glendi in Eugene, Isaac may well have prepared your meal.
So why did we hire him? Beats me! Maybe because two of his references are good friends of mine. Or could it be that we wanted better food at the shop picnic? Or was it because he is a bike nut? Because he has a cool mustache? Frankly, no one can remember.
Anyway, Isaac has a Santa Cruz Blur, and a Heinz 57 commuter among other bikes. If any of you, gentle readers, discover why we hired him, send the editor an email.

Chris Norton, Mechanic
Chris is an all around athlete. She especially likes ultimate frisbee. The shop guys say she’s a hucker – “and that’s amazing for a girl.” But they didn’t call her a girl when she was around to point out the distinction. Chris rides a Norco A-Line, a Lemond Buenos Aires, and a Fugi commuter bike.

Ben Kubas, Master Mechanic
Though Ben only joined us in 2009, he has already passed our challenging Master Mechanic certification. Before joining Paul’s, he was the manager of Evolution Freeride bike shop for eight years, and before that he managed True Wheels bike shop. Both shops were located in Killington, Vermont. So Ben was not acquainted with real mountains before joining us.
Ben is a pro class downhill mountain bike racer, and also an avid downhill skier (everyone is allowed one vice).

Joan Russick, Mechanic
Joan is a grad student in Architecture, a photographer, trombonist, and artist. In 2004 at age 15, she started work at BikeLine in Indianapolis. She moved to Oregon in June, discovered hills, and joined our 5th Street store staff with 5 years of prior experience. Visit Paul’s – interesting people who know and love bikes!

Tom Barrett, Mechanic
Tom used to own his own bike shop in Arizona. Now instead of doing business taxes, he’s able to ride his mountain bike. He has brought his dry sense of humor to Oregon where we need more dry.
Tom Barrett, better known as Big Tom, and Tom Stockton, better known as regular size Tom, make up the Alder Street taciturn team. But if you can get them talking, they can share a wealth of knowledge about local trails, mechanics, and bikes in general.
Tom commutes daily on a Rans Fusion and also rides gazillions of miles off-road on his Surly Karate Monkey and his Salsa El Mariachi – known locally as the one speed mad man.

Tom Stockton, Master Mechanic
Home grown, Tom graduated from North Eugene High School then went on to study the graphic arts at LCC. He has previous experience from working for Collin’s. These days he still enjoys drawing and painting, eating Mexican food and all types of cycling; particularly downhill and freeriding. The word on the street is that he can manual ’til the cows come home. Tom rides too many bikes to list.

Paul Kronser, Mechanic
Paul Kronser joined our team in June. After succeeding in the Pro 1/2 he was selected for the U.S. U23 team. Paul is excited to share his knowledge of racing and training with our customers. Paul’s extensive experience in bicycle retailing mirrors his successful racing career. He comes with years of experience in sales and wrenching in various shops across the Midwest and California (including Trek’s company store).

Andrew Alef , Community Outreach
Andrew is a Eugene native and is currently working on an Associates Degree at LCC. He also teaches the Bicycle Maintenance Class at the UO. Andrew has been in bicycle shops for as long as he can remember. Having graduated to the position of Community Outreach Coordinator, Andrew’s goal is to continue to make Paul’s an integral part of Eugene’s cycling community. From general bicycle advocacy to participation with local school programs and free mobile maintenance at local events, Andrew loves to see people riding bikes.

Paul Adkins, Community Outreach [Email Paul]
Paul came to Eugene in early 2007 to put down roots in a place where he and his family can live the bicycle way of life. Paul serves on both the GEARs’ and BTA’s Advocacy Committee and hopes to help Eugene continue to put bicycling high up in the community priorities. Paul has experience in communications and marketing, having earned a fine arts degree from Kent State University in 1995. He has worked as a graphic designer for many years. He and his wife, Monica, live car-free with their four kids, Rainy, Torrent, Dare and Sangi. He also helped co-found Kidical Mass and helps coordinate Eugene SRTS programs at ATA Family School. Paul currently holds the crown for wining the Eugene Flat Tire Fix Off blindfolded.