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Couple open bike shop in downtown Tampa

Tribune photo by JULIE BUSCH

Bike rentals are available at City Bike Tampa on Cass St., which opened Thursday.

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JOSE PATINO GIRONA

jpatino@tampatrib.com

Published: July 3, 2009

TAMPA - Kellie and Jason Cyr are investing their future in downtown Tampa.

A year ago they moved with their three daughters into a Harbour Island town home. Last month they opened City Bike Tampa, 212 E. Cass St.

"We believe in the urban life," Kellie Cyr said.

"Being that we live down here ourselves… we talk the talk and walk the walk."

Their store sells and rents urban commuter bikes with one gear, narrow tires and weights of less than 20 pounds. They also sell and rent mountain bikes, beach cruisers, road racing bikes, children's bicycles and BMX freestyle bikes.

But the shop is more than bicycles and a service center for bike maintenance and tune-ups.
It sells and rents longboards — skateboards that are 44 or 52 inches long — along with sticks to propel them around the urban landscape. The sticks are 5- to 6-foot-long bamboo sticks wrapped in fiberglass with a rubber grip at the tip.

The Cyrs offer a 60- to 90-minute history tour of the city that covers Bayshore Boulevard, Hyde Park, the Channel District, Franklin Street, Davis Islands and Harbour Island.

In September, they plan to sell and rent kayaks.

The Cyrs, both 38, see potential in downtown Tampa. They anticipate their shop will attract residents of new downtown condominiums and nearby neighborhoods. They also hope it will appeal to downtown workers and tourists.

Robert McDonaugh, the city's urban development manager for downtown and the Channel District, said the Cyrs are part of the "new urbanism."

"These people want to live near where they work," McDonaugh said. "They don't want to commute like their parents did."

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