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“Life is like riding a bicycle, to stay balanced you must keep moving.” — Albert Einstein

Bob Molinari, owner of Placerville Bike Shop, is riding off into retirement and the next chapter of his life. The popular bicycle shop on Broadway in Placerville closed its doors on Saturday, Aug. 10.

“It’s been a great 42 years serving this community, but it is just time for me to move on,” Molinari said. “I have met so many great friends in the biking community. There have been a lot of goodbye hugs and crying lately when people learned I was closing.”

Molinari said he is closing up shop for a variety of reasons. Those factors include other bike shops opening locally, a growing number of people using the internet to purchase bikes and an increase in traffic that he believes has left locals feeling unsafe riding along streets. But with nine grandchildren, family is top-of-the-list as to why Bob is moving on.

“My wife Barbara and I want to spend time with our grandchildren now and having nine, that will keep us plenty busy,” Molinari explained. “We are a going to take a road trip very soon to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho to visit my son, Jeff, and his kids. After the trip, I will keep on riding and being a part of the local biking community.”

Molinari has three sons Andrew, Jeff and Matthew, all of whom have worked at the bike shop at some point in time. Barbara, a school teacher for 20 years, also chipped in over the 42 years in business, but stopped when she got “some dirt under her nails,” Molinari said.

“Barbara did help with stocking shelves sometimes. She studied art in college and became a great middle school teacher. The bike shop life was not really for her and she was plenty busy with three boys … ”

Andrew Molanari, 40, of Placerville, and the middle son, has been working at the shop for more than 10 years now. The shop has been a family affair and Andrew said everyone in the family rides bikes in some capacity.

“It’s been bitter sweet closing the shop. Bikes have been such a huge part of our family,” Andrew said. “It’s amazing to think about how many bikes have been sold through here and the amount of hours spent on bike repairs over the years.”

Placerville Bike Shop has been a staple at it’s current location for over 30 years. Prior to that, the store was located on Placerville Drive for more than 10 years. Bob said he was living and working in Sacramento when he and an old friend decided to open up a bike shop in Placerville.

Andrew said his brother, Jeff, was considering taking over the family business, but it ‘s a big commitment.

“Running this bike shop really is a 24-hour job and Jeff decided against it and to move to Idaho with his family,” Andrew said. “As for me I plan on going back to working in the computer science field after brushing up on some skills.”

Bob first fell in love with bikes living in Santa Rosa as a child. He said his mother never really learned to drive, and while his father had a car, he did not have the time to drive him around because he was always at work.

“My mom had a hard time driving those stick-shift vehicles back in the day. She wrecked two cars so she stopped driving,” Bob said. “Out of necessity I began riding my bike all over town to my friends’ houses and other destinations. That is how biking really got into my blood.”

Bob said while it’s a tough decision to close the bike shop he has no regrets and is grateful to the community for its support over the years.

“I always used to be ordering bikes or bike parts to keep the shelves and store filled, so it is different now to see the shop clearing out and not calling for orders … ”