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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 2005)
Celebrating 25 years The delivery bike movement thing — he loves moving on anything powered by human means.” These days, Hotchkiss is drawn more to the water than the roads. He dreams of closing up shop, buying a houseboat and paddling down the Mississippi River. “I’ve been chasing pavement for so long,” he says. “I think it’s time for some water adventures. It’s scary to think that there might be a time when I don’t do this. But I’m not sure how healthy it is to keep doing just one thing.” He pauses, as though pondering the day when the Sunrise Sourdough Bakery will no longer be the focal point of his life, then looks up, his blue eyes sparkling and grins. “I definitely have to row a boat down the Mississippi.” ■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mDFOJHIUPGTIPX $PSWBMMJTUJDLFUT BWBJMBCMFBU1FBL4QPSUT 5JDLFUNBTUFSPVUMFUTBOE"VTUJO "VEJUPSJVNCPYPGmDFOJHIUPG TIPXPOMZ %JTDPVOUFE5JDLFUT #VZPSNPSFUJDLFUTBOESFDFJWFDBTIPGGFWFSZUJDLFU#VZBNPVOUTBUIJHIFS MFWFMTBOEQJDLVQ'3&&%7%TBOE48"( XIJMFTVQQMJFTMBTU5IFFBSMJFSZPVCVZ UIFDIFBQFSUIFUJDLFU $"--/08 4OPXCPBSEFS$IFMPOF.JMMFS1IPUPHSBQIFS+BOTDJ)BEJL local bakery to shops in New York City. When a position as a baker opened up, he took it and learned to make bread. As the delivery guy, he says he liked having the hustle and bustle of the city, but then returning home to the quiet calm of his house in Massachusetts. That’s how Sunrise is for him too. When the bakery is open, he’s on. The rest of the time, he en- joys his solitude and describes himself as a recluse. “How was your camping trip?” asks Sarah Doggett, one of the many regulars. The bakery is only open on Thursdays and Sundays from 11 am to 7 pm. On Tuesdays, Hotchkiss frequently heads up into the hills around Philomath and Corvallis, spreads his sleeping pad and bag out under the stars and spends the night. Doggett pulls out a county map and the two of them huddle over it, tracing the lines that mark obscure logging roads and out-of-the-way, wild places with their fin- gers. Many people know Hotchkiss as the guy who commutes 5 miles from his house in Corvallis to the bakery on a uni- cycle, umbrella in one hand on rainy days, bouncing a basketball with the other. At one time you could buy his bread in most of the natural food stores in Eugene. For Hotchkiss, that meant working 50-60 hours a week. “I paid off my mortgage and said, ‘I’m just not going to keep doing this anymore’,” he explained. “I’d rather chase time than money. Because that’s the only true freedom there really is.” Now he delivers his bread by bike on Fridays and Mondays to both First Alternative Co-op locations in Corvallis. “He loves movement and balance,” says Tom Sorenson, 28, an old friend who now lives in Bend but recently stopped in to visit Hotchkiss. “People talk about liv- ing a sustainable lifestyle, but it’s people like Bill who are actually doing it.” Hotchkiss takes summers off and uses the time to travel around on his bike. On the door of the bathroom in the back room of the bakery he has a map of the U.S., black lines crisscrossing the country, marking the routes of his trips. “Biking just gets in your bones,” Hotchkiss says. “Kind of how movement gives you that glowy feeling, the endorphins. Once you have a few relationships with those … well, it’s a great way to feel alive.” “Bill also loves to kayak,” adds Tom’s twin brother, Eric. “It goes back to the $)&$,0658"33&/.*--&3$0.'03.03&*/'0 WHAT’S HAPPENING Corvallis • 7
