Bike shop comes to Main Street

Photo: Kayla Collins

OPEN FOR BUSINESS — John and Angela Harvey stand in front of their new business, Green Machine Bike Shop, which opened in March. It specializes in bike sales and repair, and is located on Main Street in Norway between L.F. Pike and Sons and Agren Appliance. The grand opening is slated for Saturday, May 12 at 10 a.m. 

NORWAY — "I love anything with two wheels," says John Harvey, owner of Main Street's newest addition, Green Machine Bike Shop.

"It doesn't matter what kind of bike it is — I love to mountain bike," Harvey continues.

The shop, located next to Agren Appliance, opened its doors in March, but will have its grand opening May 12. 

According to Angela, John's wife and co-owner of Green Machine, the shop will offer mid- to high-end road and mountain bikes, bike repairs, parts, clothing and other accessories.

For Angela, the best part about biking is being able to enjoy nature and to look at the beautiful scenery Western Maine has to offer.

"I like the social piece too, sometimes. I go with my group of girlfriends," she said. "It's a great way to get out to see parts of Maine that you drive right by in your car. You really get to appreciate your surroundings on a bike."

The couple, from Bethel, said that, at least twice a week, they will bike to work from home — a distance of about 30 miles. 

"That should be pretty fun," said John, who's been biking since he was a kid. "And, the endorphins; it's a great adrenaline. When you get done with the ride, you feel good.

"The first sport I ever fell in love with was road racing. I did my first road race, the Sebago Lake challenge – a 40-mile race around Sebago Lake – and bought my first bike in Windham when I was 14.

"A few years later I got my first job at a bike shop in South Portland ... and once I got the job, it's pretty much all I've wanted to do. ... When I was young, I tinkered on bikes in the garage." 

At 20 years old, John ran a bike shop in Saco for three summers, which eventually turned into a job repairing bikes at L.L. Bean in Freeport, where he met Angela.

At the time, Angela was on the sales floor, selling bikes.

John said what attracted the couple to Main Street at first was the fact there is fairly good-size population that was without a storefront bike shop.

But bike repairs and accessories are just a small portion of what John and Angela plan to offer at their shop, especially once business gets rolling.

Eventually, the couple said they plan to offer some group rides from the shop, to get to know some of the locals, to learn some of the routes and to teach others the ins and outs of riding safely on the road.

"We're recreational riders," said John. "We ride a lot, and I've been racing a long, long time. ... Eventually, we want to have rides available for different level riders, for someone that is fairly new ... and for the more experienced guys, that want to get a real training workout."

While John loves to road bike, he has spent the last decade mountain biking. He says one thing he really would like to do is to create more mountain biking opportunities in Norway.

Last year, said John, the couple started the Bethel chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA), which "can do a lot for the economy," he said. "Mountain biking attracts huge groups of people, like at Bradbury Mountain in Freeport.

"When I worked at Bean's ... that place had just begun. A handful of people knew about it. Now, when you go on Saturdays, it's jam-packed to the walls with mountain bikers. It's a destination place to go." 

John said he hopes to make Norway a biking destination, stating that "Norway is an ideal place to bring mountain biking to. We have the land, and there's definitely an interest. It's just a matter of lining up the right people to make it happen."

Angela said that she hopes that opening the shop will bring people in the community – particularly kids – together and promote healthy activity.

"It's about finding alternative ways to have fun than being on computers," she said. It's also about promoting bike riding versus driving a car to work everyday, she said.

Hence the name, "Green Machine."

"We're into green and living off the grid," said Angela. "We're pretty green people."

The couple said they weren't planning to open until May, but with this year's early spring and people requesting bike repairs, things are rolling right along.

Depending on the first year of business, the couple hopes to run Green Machine year-round and offer snowshoes as well as skis.

The shop is open Tuesday-Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.