What’s does a historic steam locomotive have to do with hand-crafted bicycles?
For one Roanoke native, everything.
Meet Aaron Dykstra, a new entrepreneur with throw-back thinking – building customized bicycles that match bike riders to carefully selected materials.
Dykstra founded the Six-Eleven Bicycle Co. after moving back to Roanoke from Chicago, where the life-long bicycle enthusiast worked for a cycling advocacy group and raced on a team.
His quest? Combine performance with artful design to create the ultimate custom steel bicycles.
His inspiration? The Great 611 J-Class steam locomotive. The Roanoke-built 611, which pulled passengers in the 1950s, is a sleek and powerful engine, the last of a kind. It’s now on display at the Virginia Museum of Transportation.
Dykstra’s frames start at $1,500, with a host of available options. Every creation gets stamped with a number signifying a completed bike.
His work is already getting noticed. He received the rookie of the year award at the 2010 Shimano North American Handmade Bicycle Show.
Dykstra is not the region’s only decorated frame builder. Stratton Delaney is the maker of Kazane bike frames.
With his online shop and downtown Roanoke store, he supplies some leading cycling teams with an array of choices.
The Roanoke Region’s greenways, mountain-bike trails and winding roads are luring bike enthusiasts. And that’s spawning a culture of affiliated groups like Sharebike.org, which recycles bikes and advocates this alternative transport. Sharebike gained recognition from the League of American Bicyclists as a bicycle-friendly business.
As interest in bicycling grows, so do events and races that attract riders. One can’t- miss mountain-bike race is the Wednesday Night Disco Race Series, where racers – some may wear spandex to get their freak on, after all – race up and down Mill Mountain.
progression of lens powers without a visible line. Lenses that combine reading and distance prescriptions often require users to point or tilt their head for optimal vision, optometrists say. Many people are happy with bifocals and progressives, but others never adjust to having to look through a narrow area of the lens for optimal vision.
house a primary care/specialty physician practice. The imaging center will be the first free-standing imaging center in Botetourt County and will offer state-of-the-art imaging procedures, including CT, ultrasound and general radiology (x-rays).
Roanoke County, the submitted project touched on all four categories of the CEDA award, incorporating Business Retention/Expansion, Community Development, Business Attraction, and Community Involvement. Roanoke County's featured project was the Green Ridge Recreation Center, a publicly-owned and developed multi-generational facility designed to anchor a proposed new business park and serve the growing needs of the community and region. Not just another recreation center, this facility will serve as a catalyst for new economic development opportunities throughout the entire Roanoke Valley.
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