'We met through cycling' - Louth friends expanding cycling and coffee business again

Two friends who have a bike shop and coffee dock together are preparing to expand the business by renting bikes from the premises in line with a new greenway opening next year. 

Karl Dolan and Ray Fedigan have been cycling enthusiasts for over 20 years and decided to open 'The Bike Station' in Dundalk about 12 years ago. 

During the past 12 years, they have been working in a rural location by Karl's house but a building has become available for sale in the town so they have decided to expand into that. 

"It was an old heritage building. It would have been originally a coal melting yard for a railroad line. So we bought that and when we initially started, we put a coffee dock into it," Karl said. 

Karl says coffee and cycling have always gone hand in hand so it made sense to have the bike shop and coffee dock together.

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"In the last few years, a lot of the movement has gone away from the competitive side of cycling and a lot of guys just like getting a weekend for spinning, you know, head off and stop halfway to go somewhere for a coffee and move on," he said.

With more and more people opting for less competitive cycling, bike hires have been on the rise, and that's where Karl and Ray got the idea to set their own one up from. 

There's what's been described as a "controversial" plan to build a greenway between Dundalk and Carlingford.

It's hoped the bike rental shop will be up and running in alignment with the greenway extension. 

"Once the Greenway gets up and running, bike rental will be a big part of our business. The big push is going to come on whenever the greenway is open," Karl said. 

The Bike Station has continued to evolve over the past 12 years and has seen people coming from further afield for advice and bike repairs.

"For the first couple of years, there was only a few people we were dealing with, but now we have people coming from probably a 100 kilometre radius," Karl said.

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Karl and Ray have been a lot busier in recent years because the technology on bikes has changed drastically. 

Electronic gears and brake pedals and tubeless tyres are just some of the notable changes, but it has meant fixing your own bike has been more difficult. 

"Year on year, we're doing a lot of training courses. There's now a lot of online training that we're able to do just to keep abreast," Karl explained.

Karl and Ray have continued to grow their business together for past 12 years, but their friendship has grown over the past 20. 

"We met each other through cycling. The local cycling club were organising an event. We cycled from Mizen Head to Malin Head over three days. We had crossed paths before that, but that was the first time we really got to know each other," Karl said.

In terms of working with a friend, Karl says it's "actually quite enjoyable." 

Despite working Monday to Saturday, they still find time to go on cycling trips together. 

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On Wednesday's the two go on what they call 'The Dole Run' with a number of other people.

"A few of us started going on a Wednesday morning and as that group has increased in size, people are often asking us, 'how are you guys going on a Wednesday morning?' So, we all stuck to one answer - the dole. The group's got a nickname now as  the Dole Run," Karl said. 

In reality, most of the people either work nights, do shift work, or are retired and the shops opening hours of 1pm-9pm allow them that freedom in the morning.

Karl and Ray also enjoy going on cycling trips abroad where they fly into an airport and cycle in that city or country and then fly out of a different airport. 

"We kind of make it up as we go along," Karl explained.

This hasn't always worked in their favour though. 

Karl recounted one incident where the group got the airports mixed up and arrived at the one they were meant to be going home from instead of going cycling from.

In Ireland, they feel blessed to have so many gorgeous routes to cycle on their doorstep.

"We have loads of coastal roads heading down towards Drogheda and then a bit further afield we have the Mourne mountains. Then we'd have some lovely quiet roads over towards Monaghan and Meath,"  Karl said. 

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He remembers cycling a lot growing up as his dad was a cyclist but Stephen Roche winning the Tour de France in 1987 is a standout moment for Karl. 

His love for the sport continued to grow as he did and it developed from a passion to a career with the opening of the business with Ray. 

The future of The Bike Station is exciting as it gears up for opening in the new premises.

The bike repair service, bikes for sale, and coffee dock will all be in one location, with the highly anticipated new bike hires also going to be added next year. 

"At the moment, we're a little bit higgeldy-piggeldy so the fact that everyone's going to be concentrated in one place makes it a lot easier as a practical day-to-day perspective to walk in," Karl said. 

You can keep up to date with The Bike Station by following it on social media @thebikestationltd.