LAKELAND — Steve Bent has probably done more than anyone else in Polk County to get people pedaling.
Bent, owner of a bicycle store in Lakeland’s Dixieland section that dates to 1961, has sold countless bikes to multiple generations of local residents. That extended cycle ends March 28 as Bent’s Cycling at 1058 S. Florida Ave. closes its doors for the final time.
Bent, 71, has carried on a four-generation family tradition of cycling and providing bikes and gear to other riders. Starting in the early 1900s, Bent’s great-great-uncle, Gordon Bent, and his grandfather, Norman Bent, operated cycling shops in Green Bay, Wisconsin, The Ledger reported in a 2011 profile…