There are many layers to our friend Rainer. But it all starts with generosity.
The morning of our first public group ride at SALA, a van pulled up outside and a friendly stranger ran inside and handed us a foam rectangle. It was an arrow sign from the Tour de France, our first gift of many from Rainer.
He had stopped by to give us the sign for the shop and welcome us to the neighborhood. He couldn’t ride that day, but he would eventually become a regular participant. And, because Rainer doesn’t use Strava or Instagram, he still stops by periodically or texts us to ask about upcoming rides.
Sometimes the van pulls up outside and, instead of bringing a gift, Rainer hurries in to grab a pair of God & Famous socks because the outfit he bought the day before feels incomplete without them. Or to grab an armful of energy bars for an upcoming trip. Or to pick up the latest issue of Rouleur.
When we hosted a Castelli event, he brought over an array of vintage pieces from his own collection to help us set the scene. When we threw an Indoor Relay Party, he brought his whole home set-up and rode alone for five hours straight!
Usually Rainer comes to us, but sometimes we visit him. To step into his workshop, the place where he keeps his collection of bikes and cycling memorabilia, is to step into a colorful, tactile, analogue bubble of his own creation. It’s not that Rainer isn’t computer literate. He works in data management. But outside of work he seems very deliberate and successful in finding joy offline.
Aside from his love for cycling, Rainer collects vinyl records – mostly jazz – and books. If you sit with him long enough, he might tell you about Alfonsina Strada, one of the earliest celebrated female cyclists, or Jutta Hipp, a German jazz musician known for her mysterious exit from the limelight. And then there’s Gillaume Martin, a cyclist and a philosopher.
On the open road, Rainer could give Alfonsina Strada a run for her money. But when he shows up for a ride, he is calm and relaxed. He makes a coffee, sits on one end of the couch and gets ready to roll. After it’s over, he pours himself some tea and winds down, swapping stories or watching those around him. At heart he is as unpretentious as Jutta Hipp and as thoughtful as Gillaume Martin.
In a cycling world full of personal records to beat and content to create – as helpful as those tools can be – we could all take a page from Rainer’s book once in a while. Get offline. Read the room. Enjoy.
Rainer is just one of many fascinating, multi-faceted cyclists in our community. To read more about our community members, visit our SALA Rider page.