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On a field trip a few weeks back, a UNCG student asked the startup businessman the class was visiting about the future. What was a "smart" course of study to pursue?

The veteran businessman stroked his beard a moment. Had any of the students heard of Wayne Gretzky?

Of course, the world's greatest hockey player. But what made him so great? He wasn't that big, he wasn't that fast, and his hand-eye coordination wasn't the best. His secret?

"Gretzky once told an interviewer, 'Most players skate to where the puck is,'" the businessman recalled. "'But I skate to where the puck is going.'"

I thought of the Gretzky Effect this week when visiting another independent business that just had a grand opening, this one by a first-time shop owner, John Burns, proprietor and sole employee of The Bike Garage.

It seems a risky time to open a shop, let alone a bike shop, where on a blustery November morning at the foot of Battleground Avenue, the only thing beating down the front door was a cold wind.

Then again, Burns, a veteran bike mechanic and BMXer, thought this one through. He's watched more and more people take to cycling in his Fisher Park neighborhood, and there is no repair shop in close proximity, a big issue when your bike is your ride.

So Burns, 39, left a job at an upscale cycle shop, the serious kind that supplies high-end road bikes to Lance Armstrong wannabes for a few grand a throw, and he's going it alone.

But rather than open a store for people with money to burn, he picks up used bikes to sell on consignment, and does quick turnaround repairs.

"This wasn't too much of a gamble. The risk would be if you were opening a retail shop owing people a lot of money for expensive inventory, contract minimums, stuff like that," Burns said. "This is a utilitarian bike. The sweet spot is $100 to $300."

His garage bay two doors down from Smith Street Diner used to be home to an auto glass tinting business, and before that, Cox's Radiators. Facing him across Battleground is another sign of the times: Auto Trends, the longtime parts and repair shop, now has a large stock of scooters parked up front.

Six months ago, it might have seemed an involuntary - and perhaps temporary - response to $4 a gallon gas. But now that consumers have seen the pendulum swing back and forth several times at the pump, bikes and scooters are becoming a more long-term part of the cityscape.

Take, for instance, Karsten Hartweg, who works at VF Corp. downtown and commutes 10 miles each way - on his 30-speed Trek. He needed a gear adjustment, and took his bike around the corner to Burns.

"I got it back in an hour," Hartweg said as he left to ride back to work. "There's nothing like this down here."

Burns is a self-taught mechanic who learned the ins and outs of fat tires and Shimano shifters long before Armstrong's seven-year Tour de France reign whetted U.S. appetites for pricey bikes that can be as finicky and fickle as Ferraris.

Now, as the economy tightens, he sees a solid market in what he calls "necessity" riding, as much for economy as for fitness and competition. It's all do-it-yourself at The Bike Garage, from the repairs to the coffee bar Burns and his father designed - built to give Burns' friends and customers a place to hang out and drink coffee or iced tea.

Next year, he might invest in a bigger fridge and start selling the energy drink Burn.

But before he starts expanding, he'll see how it goes.

It's Stone Soup in Stokesdale

Speaking of low-tech, do-it-yourself ideas, remember Randy Braswell, the Stokesdale farmer who grows acre after acre of sweet potatoes, cabbage and crowder peas to donate to church pantries and hunger programs?

Well, he's inviting all of us to a free dinner tonight at his church, Gideon Grove United Methodist in Stokesdale.

Borrowing a page from everybody's favorite Brothers Grimm fable, "Stone Soup," Braswell is making soup - a lot of soup - and something tells me crowder peas will be involved.

"We may have to re-create the 'loaves and fish' meal that Jesus had," Braswell said in an e-mail, "but that will be OK. Hope to see ya."

The "Souper Supper" is 5 to 7 p.m. From U.S. 220 north, follow U.S. 158 west to Stokesdale. Turn on N.C. 65 east at the main stoplight, take a quick left on Ellisboro Road, and a right on Gideon Grove Church Road. The church is a mile up on the right.

Contact Lorraine Ahearn at 373-7334 or lorraine.ahearn@news-record.com