Amid Tennessee’s cycling community’s shift from Nashville to Memphis, Victory Bicycle Studio in Midtown has hired Nashville cycling expert Lynn Greer as its operations manager. 

Greer, who has more than 30 years of experience in the cycling industry, started working for Victory full time on July 7. Before coming to Memphis he owned Gran Fondo Cycles in Nashville for 17 years. 

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“We ran very similar operations, him in Nashville and myself in Memphis, and when I say similar operations, I mean down to the brands and the styling.” said Victory owner Clark Butcher. “Victory was in incredible need for an all-star. The fact that he came to Memphis is proof of the growth (of our business and the local cycling community).”

Victory, at 2549 Broad Ave., offers brands similar to what Gran Fondo carried, such as Bianchi, Parlee, Scott, and Moots. 

When Greer began his career in the ’90s, Nashville was a hot spot for road cycling because of country roads and routes in Percy Warner Park and Natchez Trace Parkway.

But as Nashville has grown, the sprawling city has seen a departure from road cycling and the growing popularity of mountain biking, Greer said.

With Nashville’s expansion also came a decrease of local shops due to high rent, high payroll, and extra advertising dollars spent for businesses to be seen by people moving to Nashville from other cities. 

In 2019, Greer closed Gran Fondo.

“It had just become difficult to run any local business in a boom town,” Greer said. 

When Butcher heard the news, he “cold called” Greer and asked him to work for Victory. Greer agreed.

“I was just so grateful to come back to the bike business and do this,” Greer said. “Moving to Memphis is one of the best things that ever happened to me.”

Greer said the city’s flat topography, the number of bike lanes and attractions like the Greenline and Big River Crossing create ideal riding environments for new and experienced cyclists alike.

According to a report from 2012, Memphis ranked higher than Nashville in bicycling and walking. 

Greer said Memphians who picked up the sport during the beginning of the pandemic seem to be more likely than Nashvillians to stick with it because of these favorable riding conditions. In Nashville, where hills and car traffic make cycling more challenging, often lose interest, he said. 

Butcher said training groups like Victory’s Couch-to-50miler and 100mile Training Team help to incentivize regular exercise by bringing together a community of like-minded individuals. The two groups combined have 191 members. 

Philip Walkley, executive director for Service Over Self, had been a runner for most of his life but decided to get into cycling with his three friends. He bought a road bike in October and joined the 100mile Training Team this June. 

“I think for me, the biggest part of it was the community aspect, like sharing that with friends,” Walkley said. “The cycling community is a really cool community. Meeting other people in Memphis who do cycling has been really fun.”

The groups train each Sunday and are given assignments to do by themselves throughout the week, including riding their bicycles outside and training on stationary bikes in their homes. Walkley’s program will culminate in a 100-mile ride with the group on Sept. 19. 

Others are getting into bicycling for health reasons, like Doug Duncan, an investment manager who began training with Victory five years ago. He’s seen a slew of health benefits from bicycling, including losing weight and getting off blood pressure medicine. 

“Memphis has done so much since I started riding. The bike lanes and the Harahan Bridge have been instrumental in my riding,” he said. “I live in Midtown and I ride across the bridge and can either ride on the bike trail to Pancho’s, or you can ride through farm roads.”

Butcher credited former Shelby County Mayor AC Wharton for creating 100 miles of bike lanes throughout the county. 

Future and ongoing developments continue to make bicycling easier, like the connection of the Shelby Farms Greenline to the Wolf River Greenway, the addition of bike lanes to Peabody Avenue and the Walton Family Foundation’s trail building project in Arkansas.

Community outreach is also crucial to the cycling community, Butcher said. In addition to donating to schools and churches, he provides services to summer camps with bike programs and provides and maintains BikeShare fleets at St. Jude and Rhodes College. 

“I have to have a total professional like Lynn, because my forte is bringing the business in and the community engagement and bringing great parties together,” Butcher said.