The ride is over.

Bicycle Bob walked into his namesake Old Town Goleta store on Sunday for the final time as owner.

Come Monday, Bob “Bicycle Bob” Zaratzian will slow his roll, put his kickstand down and hop off the figurative bike he’s been pedaling for nearly 40 years.

He’s going in a new direction: retirement.

“All that is really hard to walk away from, but I am 70 years old now, and I am getting a little tired,” Zaratzian told Noozhawk on Saturday.

He has a 5-month-old grandson and two more grandchildren, twins, coming in March.

“My wife said my job description has just been rewritten,” he said.

Most important, he plans a return to the love that originally sparked him: riding bikes.

“Life has just been insanely busy for us, the last few years especially, and riding has diminished a lot, and we’re really looking forward to getting back out there,” Zaratzian said.

Over the past 40 years, he and wife, Julia, have only taken one summer vacation.

“We have some catching up to do,” Zaratzian said. “We want to ride. We want to relax a little bit.

“We want to travel a little bit and spend as much time as we can with the grandkids.”

On Saturday, Zaratzian — as though he were cycling greats Lance Armstrong or Marianne Vos — greeted admiring customers who learned of the news from his email blast and a big sign and letter posted at the front of the store.

They were saying goodbye to a man who they appreciated for his product, but loved for his commitment and dedication to his craft.

“He’ll be sadly missed,” longtime customer Nicholas Connell said. “He’s brought so many people into enjoying the cycling world, through their access to bikes and what they have done for the community.

“They have really helped Old Town Goleta just develop and grow as a cycling community.”

For Zaratzian, the biking business runs in his blood. His father owned a shop in Orange County. As a young man, Zaratzian had the opportunity to buy the store from his dad, but chose not to.

“My dad came in one day and said, ‘you know what, I am done, if you don’t want the shop I am gonna sell it,’” he recalled. “I said ‘no, thank you, I don’t ever want to work in the bike business another day in my life.’

“And if you worked for my father you would probably say the same thing.”

On the last day before his father sold the store, like a gust of headwinds stopping him in his tracks, Zaratzian’s life changed forever.

“This rather attractive, young blond gal walked in with her mother and I ended up selling them a couple of bikes and asked her out on a bike ride,” he recalled fondly.

He followed that young blonde to UC Santa Barbara, and a romance emerged. He got a job working at a local bike shop, the relationship accelerated, and the two married a few years later. He and Julia made a life together and raised their children in Santa Barbara.

Zaratzian also fell in love with the South Coast and, like his dad, decided to open his own bicycle shop.

“I realized that I could do this, and do well at it,” he said.

The Bicycle Bob’s location in Old Town Goleta is the seventh physical location, and a mecca for biking enthusiasts of all ages and skills.

The original shop was 800 square feet and he was the only employee. On the last day, he’s inside a 9,000-square-foot store and has 15 employees.

As he reaches the end of the road, Zaratzian fails to hold back tears as he recalls the things he will miss: the customers, the co-workers, the friends.

Some of his employees have worked at the store for more than three decades.

“Sorry I am getting emotional,” Zaratzian said. “That’s the hardest thing to leave, the people who work here. This is the hardest thing for me, it’s leaving these guys.”

He called the store his destination, when he wants to get away.

“This is kind of my safe place, if things aren’t going right out in the world, this is a very, very comfortable place for me,” Zaratzian said.

All of the employees have been offered their jobs at the same rate of pay with Trek, Zaratzian said.

He said he also will miss the interaction with customers, helping them select family bikes, or make repairs, or just share conversations about their bicycle journeys.

“It’s a great, great cycling community,” Zaratzian said. “The cycling community is full of great people.”