Yesterday: Lindsay Gauld has always had a profound love of cycling nurtured through 15 years of elite racing which culminated in his representing Canada in the 200km road race at the 1972 Munich Olympics. That love of cycling was coupled with a desire to encourage people to become more active through cycling and cross country skiing. So Lindsay started a bike 'store' in 1979 as part of another retail chain in the city. Olympia came into being as a stand-alone business in 1983. Passion for the activities of cycling and cross country skiing is still the driving force at Olympia Cycle & Ski today -- the staff at Olympia are avid cyclists and skiers themselves, and love to share the passion with you.
Today: In 2006 Lindsay turned ownership of the store over to longtime employee and partner Scot Miller. (Lindsay continues to pursue his cycling desires as Winnipeg's oldest bicycle courier, and he continues to stop by the store and looks forward to seeing many of the "regulars" for years to come).
Customers can rest assured that the highest level of quality and service they have come to expect from Olympia is here to stay as Scot shares a similar philosophy and love of cycling and skiing. Scot is keen on further connecting with the active public through organizing bike advocacy group rides, by continuing to support many local bike and ski groups and programs, and more. And Scot is always looking to serve the needs of our customers by bringing in the latest gear - new stuff is always arriving.
Olympia Cycle & Ski caters to a broad cross section of the cycling community, offering road racing machines and recreational road bikes, mountain bikes, commuter hybrids, urban trials bikes, tandems, single speeds, kids bikes and tricycles, and on and on. In the winter we offer a wide selection of cross country ski gear for both classic and skate skiers. We're proud of the many elite competitors who are loyal to our shop, and we're just as proud of servicing the average Joe or Jane looking to get a little exercise into their busy lives.
Tomorrow: As we continue to enjoy cycling and skiing we'd like to welcome you into the family if we haven't already met you. Sure, we'd love to sell you something (after all we need to make a living so that we can make our own personal bike and ski purchases), but we'd also just love to hang out with you and talk about the activities we enjoy. So come on down to the store soon, whether you're looking for that new purchase or just letting yourself dream, and be sure to tell us about what you'd like to see us help with in the future. We're looking forward to riding into the future with you.