People You Need to Know: Duane Strawser

Photo by Bob Lickter Duane and Connie Strawser own the Nevada City Bicycle Shop. Duane is also the driving force behind the Nevada City Bicycle Classic, which helped the city bring the 2010 Amgen Bicycle Classic to town.

Duane and Connie Strawser moved here in 1996 and never looked back, which is a good thing. Duane has worked countless hours over the years as the director of the Nevada City Bicycle Classic, which this year was won by none other than Lance Armstrong. His efforts are a primary reason that the 2010 Amgen Bicycle Classic will start on May 16 Nevada City.

What do you think ultimately convinced the Amgen Tour of California officials to start the 2010 race in Nevada City? Did you have to mount a major charm campaign to persuade them?

Definitely, my good looks must have drawn them in! Really though, Nevada City had several things going that made this possible.

 Obviously, our strong reputation and tradition of 49 (and counting) years hosting one of the premiere pro-am bicycle race events in the nation – the Nevada City Classic. Amgen watched our professional, successful event rival their own and other premiere bicycle race events around the world on 1/30^th of their budgets. We hosted a stage of America’s original world-class stage race, the Coors Classic, back in the late 80s, which showed our track record of successfully handling European level pro-am events, and our small city did it with panache and class.

 Ultimately, we earned the Amgen stage for 2010 by showing such long-standing support for world-class cycling events. Even when the popularity of cycling dipped for several years and our crowds became smaller – we, as a community, remained steadfast in our support of the NC Classic. We still have detractors, but I try to never let negative, narrow-minded people bring down my beliefs and dreams.

Lance Armstrong’s decision to race this past summer in the Nevada City Bicycle Classic hit this town like a thunderbolt. It got even better when he told his 1 million Twitter followers what a wonderful race and place we have here. Does Lance have a special spot in his heart for Nevada City?

 Initially he had “heartburn” from Nevada City. He is such a driven competitor that finishing second back in 1991 to Chris Huber drove him nuts all these years. So, I think he was “forced” to finally come back and get his name on our winners’ list along with all the other top American racers who’ve stepped on the podium since Charlie Allert started this whole thing to save our historic downtown from turning into a ghost town back in the ‘60s.

 After speaking to Lance’s manager and realizing Lance was in the U.S. training (versus Europe) and could reach us via plane to race that Sunday, the peer pressure from his teammate Levi Leipheimer who won our race in the past sealed the deal. Lance had to come out here and win it or the other riders on his team would never have let him live down that second-place finish. There’s nothing like fellow racers rubbing something in your face to motivate an athlete like Lance. It was an honor to have him come back to race.

  From your perspective as the Nevada City Chamber of Commerce president, what does the business group and the city need to do to help small businesses survive or even thrive during these challenging economic times?

 We must do a better job showing merchants the benefits of the Chamber to increase memberships and to ensure our existing members stay strong and successful.

 We offer advice, classes and presentations etc. but the majority don’t take advantage of these “improvement opportunities.” Growing our numbers can create a more positive cycle of participation, which in turn allows a larger budget for marketing and advertising opportunities, ensuring a strong economy for all of our merchants and citizens.

 The 2009 NC Classic and landing the 2010 Amgen event are examples of the marketing exposure we can gain for Nevada City/County by thinking out of the box. We need to repeat this pattern and momentum to continually grow/improve our existing events and identify new opportunities to expose our beautiful city and county to visitors and new businesses, large and small, securing the foundation of our local economy.

  How has Nevada City changed since you moved here in 1996? What brought you here in the first place and then to decide to buy your own business?

 I notice general growth and the increased traffic, but it’s still tolerable. Other than that, Nevada City is still the same great little town that attracted me here in the first place. Great food, the variety of unique stores, coffee houses, book shops, performing and visual arts/artists, recreation, nature, theaters – basically great everything, especially the people.

 I quit racing in 1996 right after we had our first child. Connie was raised in Grass Valley and we came to see her family and the bike shop was for sale. I planned on heading to L.A. to work in the film industry, but the bike shop put Connie and our kids near her family. With hard work the business started to thrive and we realized how much fun it could be. The customers were great and it was a great place to live – so we never looked back.

  You and Connie are business owners who now get to look forward to working on the Amgen race in May and the 50^th Annual Nevada City Bicycle Classic in June. You’re also parents. How do you two find the time and energy to multi-task at a pretty high level?

I ask myself that every day. It’s just the way I was raised. If something needs to get done, then step up and make it happen. Connie constantly reminds me of how much time I give away from our business and family, which is usually too much, and she’s right.

 But we do what we do because I feel it’s the right thing and people need to step up to make our town and the world in general a better, more enjoyable place to exist. If we don’t set the example and keep things moving in a positive direction, then the very things that I love about Nevada City will start to disappear.

 I do my best to give my kids quality time, but Connie and the bike shop have definitely sacrificed attention I should be giving them in lieu of the time I spend doing volunteer projects. It’s just something I feel very strongly that needs to be done, and I’ve always had a hard time saying “no” to people or situations that need to be improved or fixed.