St. Charles shop owner inherits joy of cycling from his father
Whenever Sammy Radi finishes riding his bicycle through St. Charles, he feels like he's been on vacation.
An avid cyclist, Radi helped run a family-owned bike shop for 20 years. On Wednesday, he'll celebrate the grand opening of his own shop, Sammy's Bike Shop, in St. Charles.
"You leave my shop, and two miles west of me you are in the middle of nowhere with the scent of the country, less cars and less traffic," said Radi, of Lombard. "Everytime I go ride up here I feel like I've gone on vacation."
The shop, at 602 S. First St., has everything a bicyclist would need -- clothing, accessories and, of course, bikes. Radi prides himself on carrying 16 different brands, 12 of which are Italian-made, which Radi says are usually among the nicest bikes.
"The Italians just have the nicest, the most engineered, the fanciest looking (bikes)," he said.
As for accessories, Radi says cyclists should be able to find whatever they need, be it shoes, helmets, pumps, tools or clothing.
"We have tons of accessories here … anything to do with bikes," he said.
Radi, one of six children, got his start in bicycling at a young age in Jerusalem. Radi learned the art from his father, who was "passionate" about bikes. When his father passed away, his 18-year-old car had only 8,000 kilometers -- or just over 4,970 miles -- on it. The last time Radi and his father rode together, his father was 68 and Radi couldn't keep up with him.
"He was a huge bicycle rider," said Radi, who immigrated to the United States in 1982. "All of the family rode bicycles."
Radi says the joy he gets from riding his bike cannot be matched. Oftentimes, he returns from a ride singing.
"I cannot stop singing when I ride a bike," says Radi. "It takes all the stress away and I look at things differently. I don't get that out of anything I do except biking."
What does he sing when he returns from a ride At times he can be heard singing "Wonderful Word" by Louis Armstrong or one of his favorite songs from Pearl Jam.
"I'm not a good singer, but I do sing," joked Radi.
Radi plans to share that joy of biking with his customers. In addition to selling the equipment for biking, he offers group rides. Next month he plans to add a women's only ride.
He also is starting a junior team that will focus on road racing. The team, open to ages 8 through 12, also will learn some of the basics of bike maintenance.
And if Radi gets his way, he would love to shut down some of St. Charles' side streets for a few hours each week to encourage bicycling. He points to a city of 60,000 people in Germany where every weekend city streets are shut down to cars and open only to bicyclists.
"I'm so confident everyone would live the idea and we would have bikers come from all over to try it," said Radi, who says he has yet to approach city officials about the idea.
Sammy's Bike Shop is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. The shop can be reached by calling (630) 444-0690. A Web site, www.sammysbikes.com, will be up soon.