Kevin and Andy (PPP) outside the shop
Recently I met with Kevin Schmidt, the Owner/Founder of Pedal PT, one of the only physical therapy offices in Portland specializing in physical therapy for cyclists and bike fitting. Kevin found his passion during a major life shift: In 2007 he left a corporate job and took a massive pay cut in favor of reducing his car commute and working closer to home. He started riding to work every day and while he felt miles better physically and mentally, he noticed that daily cycling was taking a toll. He found that even in his field of physical therapy the answers he was getting about how to avoid this were incomplete, so he set out to learn more about how to fix this. “85% of people who ride regularly develop pain,” Kevin says. “What we do is look at the body, the posture, the pedal style, and adjust the bike from a holistic perspective. We see dozens of people a week just for bike fit.”
Kevin in the Pedal PT bike fit shop
The office is centrally located in the Clinton district with indoor bike parking, in a gorgeous open office space. They’ll adjust the bike in-house, in the physical therapy/shop pictured to the right. “We’re half physical therapist, half wrench monkey,” says Kevin. While you might spend 300 bucks at some shops for non-medical bike fitting, Pedal PT offers bike fit from a specialized physical therapist for $150, without the product upselling you might get at a shop.
Kevin is one of the more passionate folks I’ve met–a bike geek and cycling advocate–involved in the community and excited about it. His Rivendell bike is swoon inducing and I’m pretty sure I need a bike fit ASAP, since I ride everywhere and don’t own a car. In other words, I’m sold.
