At one year in, AMG Cyclery has become a fixture in downtown Seaside and the community.

It’s a sunny Friday evening on June 13 when about two dozen cyclists gather in the back lot of AMG Cyclery in Seaside, getting ready for a 6pm group ride. Most of them are already straddling their bikes, their helmets strapped.

It may be Friday the 13th, but the vibes are cheery and people are smiling, as this is the second Friday of the month, when AMG hosts a group ride out to Lovers Point for a hang, then back to Other Brother Beer Co. for another hang and a dollar-off beer or two.

This particular Friday is AMG’s first Pride Ride, and Melissa Lewis, a Monterey Pride board member, welcomes the group and encourages them to check out Monterey Pride’s website for upcoming events throughout June. Alex Gonzales, who co-owns AMG with his wife Alisa, describes the route of the ride, emphasizing to riders that they should stay close until the group crosses Canyon Del Rey and merges onto the Rec Trail.

The group of about 28 riders roll out of the lot just after 6pm, and they travel slow and tight when they pull onto Broadway Avenue, home to Seaside’s nicest bike lane. It’s smooth getting onto Del Monte and then onto the Rec Trail, and that stretch in particular feels safer in numbers.

As the group rolls down the Rec Trail, the pace is leisurely, one anyone could keep up with. One rider has brought along speakers, and tunes carry through the eucalyptus trees lining the trail. Ghost, a small, 3-year-old white dog riding in a basket, barks joyfully into the wind.

The riders space out into pairs and small groups as they roll, chatting it up, and the Pride flag flies in the breeze as they cruise by Window on the Bay. It’s a lovely evening along Monterey’s waterfront, locals and tourists alike are walking or riding the trail, and the unhurried pace of the AMG crew, the music, the numbers – it feels like a mellow, rolling party as the group heads toward Cannery Row.

Bringing up the rear is Jarod Bourdeau, AMG’s most experienced mechanic, who’s been honing his craft for more than 20 years. As for AMG’s social rides, he says there are about 10 to 15 core participants but usually more than 20.

Once at Lovers Point, the riders dismount and mill around, with several cracking a beer, and they all chat and admire some of the bikes on the ride – these are hobbyists, and some of the rides have been recently acquired or modified.

Michael Stromberg, who moved to the area from Seattle three months ago for work, looks out to the horizon, beer in hand. “I can’t believe you guys live here,” he says. “I mean, I guess I do too.”

Mary Fortune, who lives in Seaside, says she’s thrilled AMG is doing group rides, and that she usually goes to the San Jose Bike Party, a monthly social ride in San Jose that attracts hundreds to thousands of riders.

She’s also a big fan of AMG, whose mechanics fixed the squeaky brakes on her old Specialized Stumpjumper that no Bay Area bike shop could resolve. “[AMG] cater[s] to every person, and what they can do and fix is amazing,” Fortune says. “Trust me, I’ve been to hundreds of bike shops.”

It’s past 7pm when the group sets off for the return ride to Other Brother, and about a third peel off on the way to head home.

A few weeks later inside AMG, Gonzales is working behind the counter as Bourdeau helps a customer and Tylor Giger, the third of AMG’s three mechanics, tinkers with a bike behind him. Giger is the local native on AMG’s team – he founded the Salinas High mountain biking team years ago – but they all met on the job at Workhorse Bicycles in downtown Monterey.

Alex and Alisa came to Seaside from Houston in 2023, drawn by the cycling culture made famous by the Sea Otter Classic, and they decided to open AMG last July to fill what they saw as a need for a bike shop that catered to residents and the cycling community, not tourists.

Service and community are key to that vision, and business has been going well, Alex says, boosted by word of mouth and social media.

“Having the two best bike mechanics on the Peninsula draws people in,” he says.