Bikes for Sale, Though Lifestyle is Free, at The Bike Doctor

As the temperature continues to rise making outdoor activities easier for many people, inside the walls of on Main Street, kids have been living and breathing BMX all year-round.

On a recent Friday afternoon, four teens worked together on a bike in back of the shop, and a duo found at the shop most every day - "Joe squared," as the two kids both named Joe are called - had just left.

"We try to promote the BMX lifestyle rather than just, 'You ride a bike? You're how old? OK, here's a 20-inch bike,'" said co-owner Rob Micheline, a former professional BMX biker.

Micheline and business partner Roy DeGuzman opened up shop in Upper Port Jeff about a year ago, and it didn't take long for them to expand, taking up an adjoining space in November. The shop sells easy-ride, comfort bikes and some road bike inventory but its core clientele is the BMX crew.

The "lifestyle," the two owners say, refers to the inclusiveness that bikers - and most other extreme sports participants, for that matter - engage in when approached by someone with similar interests.

"You can take 10 kids from Long Island that ride BMX and put them anywhere in the country," DeGuzman said. "All they have to do is find one BMX rider, and that common bond will make them part of the same crew... You didn't make the school baseball team? Guess what? There are no tryouts for BMX. Everybody's welcome."

Logan Ryan, working on his bike with three other teens on Friday, said it's that feeling of inclusiveness that brings them to the Bike Doctor.

"The BMX status is more welcoming," he said. "These guys aren't doing this for the money. They'll let us come in here and work on our bikes, use their tools."

Micheline estimated that "20 to 30 kids come in here each day, easy."

The Port Jefferson station resident has six kids of his own in the school district, and said Port Jefferson Elementary School has asked the business to hold a BMX event to raise money for a playground at the school.

While Micheline said he's ready and willing to hold a fundraiser for the community, he said he would like to see better treatment for those on BMX bikes around Port Jefferson. Oftentimes, he said, he sees bikers who have to hop on the train at train station to head to the Greenlawn bike park to ride for the day. Those who don't might be seen riding around the village, often told by constables they can't ride their bikes, he said.

"I think it would be in the best interest of the village to build a park and give these kids somewhere nice to go," he said. "We have basketball courts, handball courts, tennis courts. Like everything else, extreme sports are second nature and no one wants to participate in it. If they were smart, they would."