Nashville has meant a great deal to me. It is the only place that my wife and I; both originally from the Northwest, have lived together. My firstborn son, Jacob, was born here. And it has been the place where I have met and made some of my best friends and achieved my greatest professional accomplishments. And so it is with some difficulty that I must announce that, nearly seven years to the day after moving here; the time has come for my family and I to return home to the Pacific Northwest and Portland, Oregon.
Nearly everyone who reads this has played a role in what I will fondly remember as my time in Music City – as the cyclists of Middle Tennessee have been the ones who have allowed me to pursue some dreams, accomplish some goals, learn many great things and enjoy some fantastic rides during my time here. Many of you have grown to be more than just co-workers, customers or clients, but valued friends whom I will forever enthusiastically anticipate meeting up with again. To you I say: thank you for the memories, friendship, support, and loyalty. It is you who have allowed me to pursue, accomplish, learn and enjoy what I have here in Nashville.
With the birth of our son in 2006 and the needs of family back home, the strain of living 2500 miles away and the pull to be near our family again became too great; and finally overpowered our will to fight it. Ideally, we'd love to move all of you to Oregon with us, so that nothing would change but the geography; but that is of course not possible. And so, we will have to simply make do with the memories of building what has become the largest bicycle retailer in the state of Tennessee from what might have been the smallest store in Nashville. I'll always remember the suffering, cramping, successes and speed that some of us have endured and enjoyed on the rolling roads of Middle Tennessee together. And to those of you whom I've had the pleasure of introducing to my favorite sport, I wish you continued enjoyment and eternal comfort on your bike.
I by no means want this to be the end of communication and relationships with the cyclists of Middle Tennessee, and so as I have said on many occasions; if there is anything I can do to help you or if you'd just like to stay in touch; you can contact me at my new e-mail address.
I will continue to work in the Brentwood store and train my more than capable co-workers and replacements until September 15th, when I will drive cross-country to join my wife and son who will depart for Oregon at the end of August. I look forward to seeing those of you who will stop by between now and then and helping you one last time to get the most enjoyment out of your cycling experience however I can. I plan to stay in the bike industry and am in conversation with several companies in the Portland area. I will be sure to let you all know where to find me if you should come to the Great Northwest and wish to look me up to go for a ride or simply catch up.
And finally, I wish you to always have smooth riding and the wind at your backs. May the road rise up to meet you and may you always keep the rubber side down. Middle Tennessee is truly one of cycling's Shangri Las and its riders are some of the best.
God bless - Matt Magee
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