Our History & Your Team
At Downtown Putnam Cyclery we give you an informative and unpressured experience whether it be buying a new bike or getting your long time ride serviced. Our experienced staff will work with you to go over the best options for your new bike or repair and recommend what we believe to be the best fix as well as the basics. We complete our builds and repairs using products sourced at a reasonable price through our many suppliers to best fit all of your needs.
We have recently added Disc Golf to our ranks as well with many local courses and many of our employees being players or on teams. Whether you’re new or a long time player we encourage you to drop in and talk to us about courses and discs as we love hearing about the latest and greatest.
Name: Patrick McGarrah
Nickname: Pat
Home Town: Greenfield, Massachusetts
Current Town: Sturbridge, MA
Years you’ve been riding: Since I was 4 years old. My bike was my ticket to freedom.
Favorite None Alcoholic Beverage: Espresso
Favorite Alcoholic Beverage: Lately I've been enjoying a local Pomfret CT wine from Sharp Hill Winery - Ballet of Angels (we call it creepy baby wine; check out the label)
Greatest accomplishment on a bike & where: Bike touring in the Alps with my wife and niece for two weeks
How many bikes do you have & their types: I have my childhood Sears bike, a Surly Troll set up for touring, thinking about an All-City Pony Express for banging around town and commuting. But I need new knees first.
Favorite area you’ve ridden: The Loire Valley in France with my wife. Stunning!
Favorite local area: Titanic Rail Trail
Best non money tip you’ve received: Never tip the owner
One word to describe yourself: Interested
Type of riding you prefer: Touring, either fully loaded or credit card touring.
Name: Andrew Blaise Vaitkunas
Nickname: There are several
Home Town: Dudley, MA
Current Town: Dudley, MA
Years you’ve been riding: First long ride was 25 miles of hill repeats in between the stopsign and fire hydrant in 1996 on a Huffy 7 Speed MTB. (my dad had bought me an odometer the day before.)
Favorite Non-Alcoholic Beverage: Coffee: black
Favorite Alcoholic Beverage: Grain, Hops, Yeast and water (Blended, forgotten about and preferably openly fermented)
Greatest accomplishment on a bike & where: Personal: Tour Of Flanders and Paris Roubaix Sportives Team: 2011 RAAM (1 of 4 crewmembers on a 4 man team winning the 50-60 year catagory 7 days 3 hours 33 minutes 3 seconds)
How many bikes do you have & their types: Foundry Chillcoot, Colnago Master, Specialized Crux, Specialized Carve, Panasonic Sport 500 3speed conversion, Volume Cutter V1 Fixed Gear. (there're more but those are the ridable ones)
Favorite area you’ve ridden: Belgium, France and Western Ma
Favorite local area: Hibbard Rd Thompson, CT
Best non money tip you’ve received: My colnago
One word to describe yourself: Caffinated
Type of riding you prefer (ie. Road, cross, MTB…etc.): Talking Pace along a river... But I can go fast too.
Other: A few years back I started a Cyclocross team with two friends of mine, Theorem Racing. We're those guys in the denim skinsuits.
Name: Christopher
Nickname: Chris
Home Town: Worcester, MA
Current Town: Thompson, CT
Years you’ve been riding: 8?
Favorite Non-Alcoholic Beverage: Melon Soda, Polar Seltzer
Favorite Alcoholic Beverage: N/A
Greatest accomplishment on a bike & where: Not crashing on the road, yet. *knock on wood*
How many bikes do you have & their types: Specialized Venge, Specialized Allez, Trek Domane, Foundry Flyover, KHS Flite 100 (Road x3, cx x1, track x1)
Favorite area you’ve ridden: Tokyo, Western Mass, Austin TX, Angeles Crest Highway
Favorite local area: Pomfret
Best non-money tip you’ve received: Watch your step.
One word to describe yourself: Calm
Type of riding you prefer (ie. Road, cross, MTB…etc.): Road and cross
Other: If you want to talk about food, that's what I went to school for ;]
Name: Steven Roenfeldt
Nickname: Steve
Home Town: Aurora, CO
Current Town: Southbridge, MA
Years you’ve been riding: I’ve been riding since high school, but realized I needed to stop for food, coffee and sleep
Favorite None Alcoholic Beverage: Coffee: black
Favorite Alcoholic Beverage: Used to be New Belgian Fat Tire Ale, now it is whiskey
Greatest accomplishment on a bike & where: I once bunny hopped a pothole on RT 169
How many bikes do you have & their types: Surly Cross Check, Specialized Fuze Pro, BH Connect (but would love to swap it for a Merckx Mourenx69), Schwinn Breeze (male version)
Favorite area you’ve ridden: The Foothills of Denver, Moab, Utah, Fruita, CO, Cuyuna Lakes Area, MN
Favorite local area: Charlton St Rec area in Southbridge, Roads of the Quiet Corner
Best non money tip you’ve received: A wiser man than myself once said, “sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes the bar eats you”
One word to describe yourself: Cornucopia
Type of riding you prefer (ie. Road, cross, MTB…etc.): The slow paced kind. But really anytime I can get out on a bike it is a joy and a privilege.