The Daily News’ weekly Neighbors series features one person from LaGrange and the surrounding area.

This week we sought out Rick Brock, the owner of Golden’s Bike Shop and an active member of the community.

LaGrange Daily News: Are you from LaGrange?

Brock: My wife (Diana Brock) and I moved here – it was 11 years ago in November – from Fort Meyer in South Florida. We woke up one morning and said we have to move somewhere different because the small town that we grew up in had just outgrown us. … All these deals kind of fell through, and through all these travels – about a six, seven month period that started in January, and we moved in November – we kept saying – we kept coming, we had some friends the area, and we kept coming through here, and we visited them probably four times that year, and every time we’d come here they were like, “Why don’t you move right here” … Then I actually got a call from the guy who lives here, and – I was in construction – he said “We need an estimator, are you interested in a job?” … Now, LaGrange is our home.

LDN: What is your favorite part about living here in LaGrange?

Brock: Now that we’ve been in LaGrange for a while, I never cease to be amazed by who knows who. … You get to talking with somebody, and they are like “yeah, I know that person” or “that’s my brother” or “that’s my sister” or “oh yeah, that’s my second cousin’s third aunt,” and things like that. You tend to get a little bit of the local buy-in when you are in a small town. I firmly believe in supporting my local community. … So, I get very interactive in my community. I think being part of your community is not only important; it is key – it is key to success. I guess that is how you build relationships too, when you are involved in things. You are constantly building relationships with people. So, on bad days, you’ve got someone to cry with, and on good days, you’ve got someone to celebrate with.

LDN: And one of those projects that you are working on is the Thread Trail, right?

Brock: The Thread is definitely my hot pocket project. … I just want to see everybody riding bikes because I know how good it is for you. It’s just when you’re out – I hate noise. Let’s start with that, and I like sailing, and I like bicycling, and they are both quiet sports. And when you’re out riding – you know I’ll be riding along some mornings by myself or even with my wife because we ride together a lot, and we’ll be out some country road somewhere and suddenly next thing you know you are 10 feet away from a deer because they don’t hear you coming. … 65 percent of people would be interested in getting around riding a bicycle. That is a national statistic… if they had a safe and calm way to be able to do it. …So, creating something like this for me is more than a great idea. It is a passion for me.

LDN: What other hobbies do you have?

Brock: I love to work with wood believe it or not. Before I bought the shop, I actually had – and I still have it – my own private wood shop, and I build little furniture here and there. Chairs and things like that. It was a release at one time, but honestly the shop kind of consumes me. … I also teach regularly at the gym. I love to teach, period. That has always been a – in another life, I probably would have been a teacher. … I teach the spinning class. The RPM cycling class, and I do it for fun. … I’ve been doing it for 10 years now. … And spending time with the kids and the grandkids is always great, but spending time with my wife because I couldn’t think of anybody better to spend time with. If it wasn’t for the fact that I had to make money, that is probably what we’d do. We’ve talked about it for years now, about just cycling across country, the two of us together. Just her and I and we could do that. We just like being together with each other. We’ve been together 33 years now, and I just still to this day can’t think of anyone I’d rather spend time with than her.

LDN: What kind of businesses would you like to see come to LaGrange?

Brock: I’m really into small business. I’m pumped about Mare Sol and the Pub and things like that where there are actually – I know the owners. I can say, hey, how are you doing? We meet each other on the street. … That to me is just cool sauce. I think it would be awesome to see a flurry of small businesses. … It sure would be great to be wanting to be in business in the downtown area and not being able to find a place because there are so many shops.

‘Neighbors’ is a weekly series by the Daily News that highlights community members. To nominate a person to be featured, call 706-884-7311.