It's hard to find a "home away from home" like that. You sort of work into it rather than just drop in and announce yourself. And some shops just don't have that sort of personality.

I'm lucky in that I've got one up here. The ship is literally a Ma and Pa setup, although she got a "real" job a year ago, and after dropping in for a while I met some of other riders. It took about a year of this but now I drop in and say hi to the owner and mechanic and go sit in the mechanic's area off to the side as do the other "regulars" and then the riding stories start up. A few minutes before closing often as not the fridge opens for a few wobbly pops and a lot of laughs. This is a place where when it's busy in the summer and someone comes in with a flat either myself or one of the other regulars will as often as not jump in and change it while the customer waits and the mechanic continues with the other bigger job.

It's not big and it's not glitzy but it's like family at this point. Hell, I even came up with a way to teach the owner's wife how to ride a bicycle. It's not easy when you're an adult that doesn't want to risk falling and all the owner's previous tries didn't work. I managed it and she's been riding now for over 8 years. The owner was ecstatic that they could now go riding together.

Like I say, you gotta find the right spot with the right owner. It's not easy. There's a difference between shop folks that'll banter with you in the hopes you'll buy something and the ones that'll talk for the love of the sport and don't care if you buy something.