Knives come easy for Erik Newsholme.

People walking around the farmers market might be impressed by his sharpening set-up, a sort of pop-up machine shop.

He’s been there, among the stands full of fruit or crafts, most Saturdays over the past couple of seasons with two sets of overalls and a spread of metal tools.

The longtime knife sharpener got the idea after visiting the Backyard Market in Black Forest.

“I was blown away by the energy and the vendors,” he said. “I thought there was no sense in people buying all this produce and butchering it with their dull knives.”

Newsholme suggests patrons drop off their knives, scissors or other types of blades while they shop around the market to be fixed up when they return. Plenty of customers come back for a service “not everyone can do,” he said.

“Sharpening is so simple,” he said. “But it’s so simple that it’s hard.”

Newsholme has a habit of doing things not everyone can do. Consider a goal he made in 2014 to complete the Race Across America, a 3,000-mile cycling race traveling from California to Maryland.

He dedicated his days to preparing for what’s called the “World’s Toughest Bicycle Race.”

“When you’re training for the toughest race in America, you don’t much time for anything else,” he said.

It helped to have a flexible job like knife sharpening.

After unsuccessful attempts to finish the race in the summers of 2015 and 2016, Newsholme thought his dream was over.

He and his wife, Beverly, moved to Colorado Springs from Atlanta in late 2016.

Then, in 2019, he got the itch again. By the time he joined the Black Forest market, his training tales made for fun fodder with customers and other vendors. They were among those cheering Newsholme on for the 2021 race, which the cyclist deemed his last hurrah.

This time, he had the edge. Newsholme finished the course. It took him 11 days. He was the first man to cross the finish line. And, at 56, he became the oldest person to ever finish the race.

“That was a large part of my life for over seven years,” he said. “Now it’s time for something else.”

That means shifting his focus from the road to the blade. Newsholme has been pouring more energy into his mobile business, which he calls Erik “The Blade” Sharpener.

Along with setting up at the Backyard Market this season, Newsholme makes houses calls and invites customers to his home in Peyton for appointments.

“I try to make it as convenient for people as possible,” he said. “Sharpening is not something on most people’s minds until they are using their dull blades and the frustration mounts.”

Newsholme knows from experience. He has 30-plus years of experience in the sharpening sphere.

He got it from his father, who started a knife-sharpening business in the 1980s in New York after seeing push carts offering the service around town. They were carrying on the century-old tradition of “moletas,” knife-grinders who traveled from village to village in Northern Italy. He and his father saved the kitchen tools for hundreds of restaurants, from those with celebrity chefs to mom and pop diners.

“The common theme is they need sharp knifes to get the most out of their grocery dollar,” Newsholme said.

That applies to anyone who wants to slice a tomato.

Gone might be the days of moletas in every neighborhood. But Newsholme is keeping the skill sharp, which is often a spectacle on market days.

“I think they’re surprised someone is still doing the craft,” he said. “There’s really not a lot of guys like me out there anymore.”