One of the most delightful bicycle collections in the world resides in a little known part of Wales, nurtured with care by Mr. David Higman.

During my recent visit, both David and the well-known bicycle historian Scotford Lawrence, graciously provided me with a tour of the collection.

There are many exhibits to study, both quirky and beautiful.

Check out the museum at: http://www.cyclemuseum.org.uk/

Over the Top ?????

Some think that my own blue bikes/kit are going a bit too far but has this guy gone over the top with his lavender outfit ?

Pederson

Maybe this will be my next bike. I think it would be “very Austin”. Check them out at some of the sites below.

http://www.pedersen.info/en/Pedersen_en/Models.html

http://www.dursley-pedersen.net/replicas/kemper.html

http://www.pedersenbicycles.com/

www.andersencopenhagen.dk/bikes.htm

http://kemper-velo.de/

But blue of course ……

A two-wheeled aristocratic lineage of almost 40 years

1) Carlton (circa 1973-4)

Though I rode my elder brother's Phillips as a teenager, I was really introduced to serious cycling by my friend Eddie Bartkowiack in the early seventies. Against his advice, I first bought a Raleigh Carlton. Carlton Cycles was founded by Fred Hanstock in 1896. During their heyday, Reg Harris, a world champion track racer in the 40's and 50's, raced a Carlton. They were taken over by Raleigh in 1960 and as a result became a semi-mass-produced machine, though at the higher end of their range. Eddie insisted that I would very soon want to upgrade and he was right. The Carlton moved on to another friend, Reg Littlefair who owned it for years!

2) Roy Thame (circa 1974-1986)

Holdsworths was one of the four better-known high-end bike shops in London at the time (the others being Condor, Evans and Witcombs). Sandy Holdsworth had originally taken over Ashlone Cycle Works on the Lower Richmond Rd. in Putney in 1927. In 1953, Holdsworth hired Roy Thame who worked with the company for more than 50 years and managed the professional team that the company established in the 1960s as well as Great Britain teams in world championships. Thame added his name to the Holdsworth stable of custom racing machines.

Eventually the original business divided: the shops were operated by W.F. Holdsworth Ltd and the wholesaling branch became the Holdsworthy Company. Roy Thame died aged 85 in 2006. The shop on the Lower Richmond Rd is still there.

My Roy Thame was my first high-end frame and came in yellow which was to remain my colour of choice for over thirty years. It was a ten-speed and had mainly early mid-range Shimano components. In those days I did not know better and could probably not have afforded Campagnolo anyway. I upgraded to wonderful Suntour components in New Orleans but the bike ended up with a friend, Ron Parsley. When Ron moved onto to other bikes, he very generously sent the Roy Thame back to me as he knew it had been my first “real” bike.

3) Ellis Briggs (circa 1983-1987)

Most schoolboys in Yorkshire in the 1960s aspired to one of two high-end bicycles. One of these was an Ellis Briggs (the other was a Pennine). Briggs Cycles was founded in 1936 by Leonard Ellis and Thomas Briggs. After Thomas died in 1953, his son Jack took over the business with his wife Nora. Jack and Nora Briggs retired in 1986. Their two sons John and Paul, had been working in the shop since the 60's, Paul as a mechanic and John as salesman. They took the reins and have run the business till today. Finally, almost 20 years after my schoolboy salivating, I owned an Ellis Briggs. It was built-up by Joy Boone’s shop in Houston. Though supposedly a custom bike, the frame was actually a tad too big for me (!), and so was eventually sold after I moved to New Orleans.

4) Allin (circa 1985-2007)

The Allin was bought as a “stand-in” while I was waiting for my Bates (see below) but ended up staying with me as a quality, trustworthy bike for over 20 years. The firm was originally known as A. H. Allin and Sons, the two sons being Archibald Edward and Charles William. The Allins were in partnership with Freddie Grubb (hailed as "the fastest cyclist in the world") for a short period at 132 Whitehorse Road, West Croydon in Surrey and traded as Allin and Grubb during that time.

The business was eventually sold to Dave Rutter and Linda Allin in 1984 but they eventually closed the business and moved to Bognor Regis. I used the Campagnolo Nuovo Record components from the Ellis Briggs to build it. A couple of years after I bought my Spectrum (see below) that finally brought me into the 21^st century, the faithful Allin moved on via eBay.

5) E.G. Bates (circa 1986-2003)

I decided that the replacement for my Ellis Briggs was to come from London. Bates Cycles was set up in Swete Street in 1926 by Horace T Bates. That same year he began to produce his first frames and in 1927 was joined in the business by his brother E.G. (Eddie) Bates. One famous name that raced in the Bates colours was the World Champion, Beryl Burton.

The company continued to build frames throughout the 1960s. When Horace Bates died in 1968, his son Peter carried on with the business and Bates frames were produced in small numbers until the late 1980s. I built up mine with the then-revolutionary Shimano Dura-Ace components with generous help from Stephen Smith at Bike-Smith in New Orleans. My Bates served me well though had a chain-stay rust problem that was fixed by Skip Hujsak in Wimberley. He had built the bike on which John Howard set a land speed bicycle record (paced) of 152 mph. My Bates never went that fast so it too eventually succumbed to eBay.

6) Spectrum/Tom Kellogg (2002-present)

Tom Kellogg is one of the great American post-war frame builders. The story of my Kellogg/Spectrum is told in another blog entry below. It is has a painted titanium frame (in revolutionary blue, not yellow!) and a Campagnolo Record triple set-up.

7) Crumpton (2006-present)

Nick Crompton’s work has been voted “best carbon frame” at the North American handmade bicycle show on at least two occasions and also won “Bicycle Magazine’s “Dream Bike” award. My own carbon Crumpton has also been documented in another older blog entry. It too has Campagnolo Record components but with a compact double. The “blue-tint over black” looks spectacular as it positively sparkles in the sun.

The Rigors of Winter

I guess I should quite whining about our days off due to weather !!!!

This is my niece's husband's commuting bike in Oxford.

A sexy mini van ??????

Question: How do you make a twelve-year old mini-van with 150,000 miles on the clock a really sexy vehicle?

Answer: Set it up to carry three road bikes.

Best cycling deal in Texas at www.ehct.com

It’s tough to imagine a better deal. Three days of fully-supported riding in the Texas Hill country for only $40 with mapped routes from about 25 – 100 miles.

Over 1000 riders usually turn out for the Easter Hill Country Tour each year, based in Kerrville. Four clubs (Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth and Austin) host the event in rotation.

It’s the turn of the Houston Bicycle Club in 2010.

For more details, check out www.ehct.com and start training for that Doss century.

And of course, there are the occasional (mandatory?) weddings .......

Photographs by Ken Erfurth, Tristan Handler and Sharon Isaac

Exxon Graftek

Earlier today I stopped by to see AJ at the Peddler’s great new location on Duval (http://www.peddlerbike.com/). My purpose was to photograph a classic … the first ever carbon fibre bicycle frame (whatever Kestrel might say).

The Exxon Graftek appeared in 1975 and was the forerunner to all the “glued” carbon fibre frames such as Trek, Look, etc. The carbon fibre tubes were actually an aluminium-carbon fibre hybrid and the beautiful lugs are stainless steel.

The Graftek received lots of publicity as the frame of choice of well-known riders including the Stetina brothers and John Howard.

Sadly, however, it did not last. Like other early lugged carbon frames, the Graftek eventually fell out of favour, primarily due to near-catastrophic bond failure. And that’s a good enough reason not to ride one if you ever get the chance. Still, make sure you stop by AJ's place and take a gander ..... its worth it.

Pat Cleary

Pat Cleary

Some years ago when I was living overseas, I subscribed to the cycling magazine “Winning”. It carried an article about an artist who lived in the Lake District and who specialised in painting classic cycling scenes from the 50s and 60s. So it was that some months later when Sharon and I were back in England, we visited Pat Cleary at his studio and bought a magnificent oil painting that had been featured in the article and now hangs over my desk. Photoshop (or rather my amateurish use of it) does not do justice to the colours but here it is.

Ironically the article caption was: "The 1963 Tour de France was one of them, featuring Jacques Anquetil, Raymond Poulidor and Federico Bahamontes (above)". But my receipt says “Tour de France, 1980. Sven Ake Nilsson ". Cleary believes that the receipt is correct.

A Few Links

A FEW LINKS

In the early 2000s, I started a bicycle history chronology for the SAW newsletter which just grew and grew like Topsy and was eventually presented at, and published by, the 2003 International Cycle History Conference in Canberra, Australia. Jim Langley (celebrated author, cycling mentor, formerly Technical Editor for "Bicycling" magazine and goodness knows what else) graciously hosted the material on his web site at http://www.jimlangley.net/ride/bicyclehistorywh.html Check out the rest of Jim’s site …. its pretty cool. And this is Jim himself:

Some years ago, I did a cycling advocacy clip on San Antonio’s NPR with Ernie Villareal. Its still available as an MP3 …… http://audio.tpr.org/iExercise023.mp3 The quality can be rather iffy but I am not sure if that was the fault of our internet connection.

I collect Art Medals from the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods. Most are French. This is one:

Some others are at http://picasaweb.google.com/WilliamTheRebel/Medals# At some point I want to do a blog entry about them but this will have to do for now!

Two other sites to check out:

Maynard Hershon is a nationally-known cycling journalist (“Tales from the Bike Shop” is a must-read for any cycling aficionado) and he has a cool site at http://maynardnet.blogspot.com/ This is Maynard & Tamar with myself and Sharon.

Lastly, one of cycling’s great philosophers is Dave Moulton who built fabulous frames in the 1970s & 80s, some of which were ridden in the Tour de France, Olympics, and World Championships. His blogs are at is at http://davesbikeblog.blogspot.com/ and http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com/

Greevz

Greevz

I would like to share with you some observations on my great-grandfather. I can hear your exclamations now: “Why, pray tell, should I have the slightest interest in your great-grand-daddy?” The reason is that he was a cyclist extraordinaire. But I get ahead of myself.

Greevz Fisher was born in Youghal, Ireland in 1845. He grew up to be an eccentric intellectual who campaigned for the abolition of illegitimacy and was an avowed Malthusian who risked prosecution by publishing and distributing free literature on contraception (remember the times: the latter half of the Victorian era). He also published many pamphlets attacking various national institutions, particularly the Post Office and the taxation system. Fisher was a philologist who had a lifelong interest in the English language and developed his own phonetic vocabulary that he used for his written communications. In his later years he was rarely seen without his pet jackdaw perched on his shoulder. Get the picture?

Fisher was a keen cyclist all his life and the local newspapers recorded his various sporting exploits during his advancing years with almost monotonous regularity. His riding started in Ireland when the sport was truly in its infancy, using one of the very early "boneshakers" which had wooden wheels and iron tires. His later trips took him to Europe on several occasions, including one holiday to France and Italy with his son. This involved crossing the snow-covered Alps and carrying their bikes at times when the road was impassable. He was sixty years old at the time.

As he grew older, his riding never ceased. When he was 78, he rode from Leeds to Liverpool, a distance of 95 miles, taking two days for the outward journey. However, on the return, as it was wet and he wanted to get home, he rode the whole distance in one day. Fisher himself relates: “As I did not want to put up in a country inn in wet clothes and the wind was at my back, I decided to push on. My only mishap was when, after mounting my luggage, I threw my leg over the saddle and fell into the hedge”. In explaining the principles of his life he continued: “I consume a fair amount of home made lemonade. I make my own porridge in the morning and never add any salt, pepper or vinegar. I do not drink any tea, coffee or cocoa as they contain vegetable alkaloids as does tobacco, opium and strychnine.” I wonder if he experimented with them all?

One newspaper article recorded that “the octogenarian may be encountered in all weathers, hatless, with his flowing locks and beard making him a conspicuous character as he pedals along the country roads. What surprises the writer is the vigourous manner in which he pushes the top gear (112) of his three-speeder for the greater part of his riding”. Now a gear of 112 is equivalent to a 52 x 12 on a modern derailleur; that’s a pretty high gear for a bike that must have weighed over 50 pounds and ridden on presumably crummy roads.

Greevz Fisher was regularly completing 70-80 mile rides till he was 83 when ill-health finally forced him to give up his lifelong passion. He died the following year, almost 20 years older than the average life expectancy for the time.

Now jump forward a hundred years. I have many cycling friends in their late sixties and seventies. Several of these successfully compete at local, regional and national levels and believe me, all are in the very best of health and are hopefully destined for a long life. Even though muscle strength and aerobic capacity usually decrease by about 10% per decade after the age of 40, riders at this level still turn in remarkable times right up until they too became octogenarians. Recent USCF time trial results show men in the 75-79 age group completing 20-kilometer events at speeds approaching 25 mph. Women in the 60-64 group were reaching 23 mph averages. Riders in the 85+ group (and no, that’s not a typo) were completing the course at over 17 mph.

Long life isn't just a result of good genes and luck. The odds of your living to be a ripe old age depend on several factors including genetic inheritance, diet, exercise, and mental outlook and alertness. You have control over all of these factors but the genes.

The relationship between exercise and longevity was supported by the Harvard Alumni Study that followed thousands of Harvard graduates over 26 years, monitoring a number of variables, including exercise habits. The study concluded that those who exercised vigorously (jogging, swimming, cycling, tennis, etc) had a 25% lower mortality rate than those whom were more sedentary or who engaged in "non-vigorous" activity such as golf or walking.

So, the bottom line is, stay riding as long as you can. Bring out your friends, family and neighbors to our rides. And if a long and fruitful life isn’t incentive enough, think of the future generations. Sewell Wright, whose work in the 1930s led him to be acknowledged as the father of modern population genetics, is said to have argued that the single most important factor in reducing the level of inbreeding in human populations was the invention of the bicycle! Before this, the norm was for marriage to occur within five miles of one’s birthplace, whereas afterwards, suitors rode further afield for their courting, thereby allowing improved genetic mixing to become the rule. Wow!

The Race of Truth

The Race of Truth

Time-trialing started in England as a rebel sport to thwart the National Cyclists' Union's ban on road racing which had been introduced for fear of a ban not just on racing cyclists but all cycling. Nevertheless, it acquired a respectability which led time-trialing to become a cornerstone of British racing. Races are generally held over 25, 50 and 100 mile distances with some based on times of 12 or 24 hours with the winner covering the greatest distance.

In 1890, the Union had banned racing on public roads in fear of a ban not just on racing cyclists but all cycling. The legal position of cyclists was not secure. "Events organized by clubs in the 1880s, although taking place on quiet country roads, were constantly interrupted by the police. Often horse-mounted policemen charged at racers and threw sticks into their wheels”

On one beautiful Sunday morning in spring some years ago I was driving from a friend’s house in North Yorkshire across the Pennine hills to Sedbergh. Coming towards me was an endless procession of time trialists. I had stumbled upon the Nelson Wheelers Cycling Club’s premier event, the 50 mile “Circuit of the Dales” which runs from Ingleton – Sedbergh – Hawes. What really struck me was the diversity of riders in terms of gender, age and abilities. It was rather therapeutic to watch all the cyclists riding their hearts out on this extremely hilly course. The very fastest of them turn in times of less than two hours.

I was reminded about how passionate British cyclists are about their Sunday morning time trials. It is as much a part of the weekend ritual as roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. As the years have passed, various changes to the sport have been made. Participants no longer have to meet in secret, wearing what was quaintly called "inconspicuous clothing". The general idea of individual riders riding "against the clock" and ignoring any other rider who they catch (or particularly who catches them) still holds true for the majority of events today.