"Jock vibes are really common at bike shops" Katie Higgins told me over tea when I went to go check out her store in Bushwick, Brooklyn. In New York City there are a plethora of bike shops with unpleasant sales staff and surly mechanics-- but all of my friends have had endless nice things to say about Kate's store. It's a one-woman operation that has only been going on for six months, but it's got a decade's worth of experience behind it earned in the often-aggro male-dominated bike scene. "I've definitely worked with mechanics who would try to put me on the spot, to test me", she said "I had to leave a shop or two because of stuff like that". And after putting in time learning the ropes at other people's stores, from sales to repairs to accounting, last year Katie decided to open a shop of her own. "This stuff is corny" she said, holding up a copy of The Girls' Guide to Starting Your Own Business, "But it's my support. They did it."

   If you dedicate the time and effort neccesary, you can make a future for yourself in almost any field. Katie wasn't always into bikes-- as a kid in Virginia, it was figure skating that got her psyched. "I outskated that rink pretty quick, though" she recalled, and she moved to upstate New York to train at the Lake Placid Olympic facilities. It was "Half a day of school and a half a day of skating" until she got into punk rock. "I seriously just threw my skates against the locker... I saw in the liner notes to all my favorite cd's: 'recorded in New York City', so I went to New York City"

   For years, Katie worked as a bike messenger in between touring with various bands, but sensing that the New York bike punk lifestyle wasn't the healthiest, she made a few career change. She's was a coach for Figure Skating Harlem while doing bike repair work in Manhattan, but has since switched to coaching a team of skaters in Park Slope, Brooklyn in order to be closer to her home and business. Of course, Katie doesn't just teach skating. "I'll always do workshops, teach people how to work on their own bikes" she told me-- which is great, because good bike shops and good instruction can make the streets safer and cleaner for all of us. Here's hoping that the shop flourishes and continues to provide an everyone's-invited hub for bike culture with a good attitude.  Check out the Brooklyn Bike Shop website and if you're in the neighborhood, go say hi.