A Little Bit of Both: South Dakota Gym Combines CrossFit and Bicycle Shop All In One
Biking and Sturgis, South Dakota seem to go hand in hand, and no, we’re not talking about motorcycles. The local affiliate Twisted Canyon CrossFit has paired together its gym with a bike shop, all in one.
Kristi Cammack and her husband Calvin opened their gym in 2016 and recently moved their bike shop, Xtreme Dakota Bicycles, right next door. The shop sells mountain bikes, kids bikes, e-bikes, and does full service and repairs. The seemingly odd pairing comes at a time when CrossFit and biking (not just on an Echo Bike or Bike Erg) have started to come together more and more.
Remind me: In recent years we’ve seen athletes using mountain bikes for a range of events at the CrossFit Games. One of the most prominent athletes utilizing the mountain bike these days is Rich Froning, who is typically posting to social media about his most recent time on the trails.
Some details: While Cammack said she hasn’t incorporated biking into her class workouts, members utilize the bike shop regularly and come together to do bike rides throughout the week.
- “We have amazing mountain bike trails around here and so we kind of got into that through a buddy and then in 2020 we ended up buying a bike shop from someone else in Sturgis,” said Cammack.
- Sturgis, SD is most well-known for “The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally,” which is one, if not, the biggest gatherings for motorcyclists in the world and is held annually.
- The event is the financial engine for the small town of Sturgis and brings in a ton of business for many small businesses.
- That said, cycling is on the rise in area. “I would say our trail systems have really started booming so where we’re at you can live anywhere in the town of Sturgis and you can be on a trail within a mile and so we have over 50 miles of really nice single track trails right in our backyard,” Cammack said.
Cammack is a teacher at the local school district and is a big proponent of getting kids and adults to stay active. As a former collegiate pole vaulter, Cammack said she wishes she had found CrossFit sooner and wants to bring CrossFit and biking to her students at school and in the gym.
She adds, roughly 80% of her members are utilizing the bike shop and even if they aren’t, their kids are. The gym is owned by Cammack and her husband, while the bike shop is owned by the couple and one other friend.
- “It’s everyday life, like we want to promote riding a bike, even to kids in the school district. I see it so much like kids don’t even ride a bike anywhere anymore.”
- “They don’t just go play outside and I feel like integrating CrossFit and biking into the school system now, like you see a difference in the kids especially and you see them almost like light up because they’re doing something different.”
- “It’s very tied together for us as far as biking and CrossFit go. In the sense of me ever incorporating [bikes] into WODs during the day, I would say no just because the mountain bikes that we sell I would say are more high end and pretty specific to people. But I would say a lot of people have started using that as their recovery day.”
Cammack and her husband grew up in Sturgis and didn’t necessarily have plans on returning to the small town, however they saw an opportunity to fill a void and they’ve now seen the impact they have made on the community.
- “I feel like it has meant a ton to me just to see that and see that transition, I guess in our community to be a little bit more athletic or active based,” said Cammack. “Everything is wrapped around the motorcycle rally and so I feel like our community really does try to keep local businesses afloat.”
For those interested, the motorcycle rally will be held from Aug. 4-13 this year and is expected to draw around 600,000 people.
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