Life During Lockdown: Bobby Wintle
Bobby embodies the community spirit that that has lit a fire under gravel cycling and bikes in general these days. Radiating positive energy and enthusiasm for bikes, he’s one of those people where within 5 seconds of meeting him I knew we’d be friends. He founded one of the most important gravel races in the country, Mid South (formerly Land Run), owns a thriving bike shop — District Bicycles — in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and he’s a husband and the father of two kids. Given all of this, I was worried about the impact of Covid-19 on Bobby, his business and his family. Not surprisingly, he’s found all kinds of upside in spite of the pandemic.
Give me some highlights and lowlights from your first month in lockdown mode
I’ll begin with the lowlights. After the weekend of March 14th when we held the last gravel race on earth, The Mid South, we closed District for an entire week. To clean. To breathe. Once we reopened I would say the first and second day were the lowest points for me. Navigating how to operate a retail store that is built around the idea of togetherness, community, group rides and parties every Friday evening was difficult to say the least. Each person in the shop felt nervous and unsure. We had to work together, listen to each other, and make a process that we all agreed was safe and functional. Took those two days, but then we got it dialed and we’ve been operating under appointment only for the past 6 weeks. Highlights have been being with my kids much more than usual. At work. At home. All times. School obviously was shut down for them after the race and they’ve been mulling around the shop most days while we are working wildly. They’re growing much too fast. Having them here has been awesome and eye opening to just how much we miss of their development and growth while they are at school. Both Emory and Elliott have picked out and built new bikes over the last few weeks as well. Those are moments I’ll never forget.
How have you grown personally and professionally during this disruption?
I have all of these grand plans to get fit, work on all the house projects, organize and dial in the shop, take care of my family, be a better cook etc etc etc. The reality is that we’ve been so busy at District with sales, new customers, old customers, service, and just answering a phone that never seems to stop ringing that most of those things have gone on the back burner. I’ve grown both personally and professionally, however, by realizing that we are flexible and that our team is capable of anything we decide is going to happen. Working by set appointments is something we had never considered as a retail shop before and it is something we are going to continue to implement even after all of this passes. We need to know that we have the opportunity to never stop growing, changing, and learning. We can always be open to being better.
Has your relationship with bicycles and your community changed as a result of being limited due to the pandemic?
We normally have 5 (or more) group rides that leave from District on any given week. All of them have been canceled. Our Friday night social that has been going strong for 8 years is not happening. We never advertise for the social these days and we always have 20 or so people from our local crew show up with 6 packs and wine and we watch whatever custom build is in Austin’s (our service manager) stand for the evening. With everything being canceled from a social standpoint I can feel the want for things to go back to normal simmering under the surface. The time is definitely not right yet, but when it is we are going to throw one hell of a party. I don’t believe that our relationship with bicycles and our community has changed forever, but if anything has changed it is our appreciation for how special our community truly is. We have something amazing here and we can’t wait for it to get back to normal, and hopefully to return stronger than it’s ever been. We certainly have lots of new people in town that didn’t have bikes before this whole thing went down!
Can bicycles create positive change in the world during a crisis like this?
Bicycles always, let me repeat, bicycles always can create positive change in the world. I truly cannot think of another invention in this world that can create as much awe, wonder, joy, and adventure than the bicycle. We’re in the middle of a global bike boom. All social gatherings are on hold and places like gyms, golf courses, pools etc are all closed. So what’s left? Bikes. Everyone is figuring out this absolutely beautiful option that has been there the whole time. My hope is that at least 15% of these new people on bikes stick with riding. I hope it changes them completely. I hope it changes them in the same way that the bicycle changed me. With a number that size retaining cycling as a regular activity we will have a whole new generation of people into bikes. This could truly change the world and make it better. For everyone.
