Race Pace Bicycles, which has grown in more than four decades to seven Baltimore-area shops, will be sold to Trek Bicycles.

Owner Alex Obriecht said Monday he has a contract to sell the business to the Waterloo, Wisconsin, bicycle maker, distributor and, more recently, retailer that runs its own branded shops. The sale, for an undisclosed amount, is expected to close in March.

Obriecht started the business in 1978 as a 21-year-old recent business graduate of what was then Towson State University. He opened Cross Country Cycling Center in a West Baltimore rowhouse, selling accessories and service before branching into bicycles.

“It has been our privilege to help make Maryland an incredible place to ride a bicycle,” Obriecht said in an announcement to customers.

The retailer, with 102 employees and stores in Columbia, Ellicott City, Towson, Owings Mills, Westminster, and Charles Village and Federal Hill in Baltimore, has been selling Trek products since 1980. Race Pace has been a top Trek dealer for years.

Obriecht said the stores have remained busy through the pandemic, benefiting from a decision early on to invest in additional inventory and expect business to pick up.

“We have had access to inventory where others did not,” he said.

At age 65, the owner said it seemed a good time to move on. He said he believes Trek will continue to invest in and support the state’s growing cycling community. He plans to continue working in some capacity as a bicycling advocate.

“Conditions are such that it was a pretty favorable time to sell my business,” he said. “Everything kind of lined up.”