Yin/yang

When I took over at the Trek Store back in the fall of 2009 (wow, it's been that long?), it was on one condition: Chris Wolff (the assistant manager) and I had to work as a team.

The thought there was as follows: "Chris knows what he's doing and you don't, but for some reason we're going to hire you anyway." (It's probably because I shaved that day and put on a shirt with buttons.)

Neither Chris nor I were particularly worried about working together, so that relationship was easy. Sure, we disagreed plenty — but the end goal was the same. Get people to ride bikes more.

A breakdown of our disagreements:

• I'm a roadie, he's a dirty damn hippie mountain biker.

Actually, that's about it. (Discounting the Russian gypsy punk fiasco, of course.) We were on the same page on most everything, which made life around the shop pretty easy.

But we definitely brought different personalities to the table. It was crystallized recently, when we opened a shipment of Capo spring/summer clothing. We both grabbed the tall Strada 200 sock — but he grabbed the black one and I grabbed the white one.

Yeah, that seems about right.

But Chris is gone now (he's not dead or anything). He's packing up his stuff and his dog and the ridiculous amount of beer people brought for him in the final days at the store and heading west. Fort Collins, Colorado.

I suspect he'll be back next spring, if only to crush the souls of flatlanders in a few local races. Living and riding a mile into the sky will certainly be helpful — to say nothing of the skills gained riding in the mountains. You know, actual mountain biking.

Until we see him again, this is how he'll be remembered in these parts:

Perfect.