From metalsmith to wordsmith
Mon, October 24, 2022 I have always been a creative person; it gives me tremendous satisfaction that I have left a body of work out there that is still being appreciated by a small but growing number of people.
Also, good to know that there is a good supply of bicycles and frames that I built still out there, thanks to previous owners, taking good care of them.
I am still creative but have gone from metalsmith to wordsmith, it suits my current abilities. All creativity begins with an original thought, and where I previously assembled metal and paint to produce a bicycle frame, I now try to assemble words in way that hopefully is entertaining, informative, and thought provoking.
With any skill, repetition is the key to becoming good at it, I became a good framebuilder by building a lot of bike frames. Today I constantly tell myself that my best work is yet to come, and the only way to achieve that goal is to write, write, write, and then write some more.
Of the utmost importance to me is to write in a manner that does not give the reader the feeling that I am trying to foist my opinions on others. I may have done that in the past and if I did, I was wrong.
In today’s world no one persons opinion matters. I cannot change the world; all one can do is change their own world.
I am always looking for ideas for articles so if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Reader Comments (3)
I own a KHS Triathlete John Howard edition. That's how I found your blog and definitely do enjoy the library of posts developed here over time. Are KHS Triathlete JH edition frames are the ones you have designed/built? I don't know but either way I am happy that the bike brought me to your blog.
In one of your older posts you have mentioned your relationship with John Howard and the business of trying to build frames for him. A detailed story of the events would be a great read.
Visiting this nice bicycle shop in North Carolina, a brief conversation with the owner he mentioned about Howard trying to convince people against using quick-release setups for them being unsafe. If I am not mistaken even lawsuits have followed the event. It would be a nice read if you know about that story as I can't find much online about it.
I am also fan of first hand stories. So it would be nice to read any story from the days you recall and think would be fun read about cycling.
Best,
Alper,
Here is a link to the story about my partnership with John Howard: http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com/blog/2006/3/31/the-john-howard-frame-saga.html
And a follow up story: https://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com/blog/2007/9/4/john-howard-frame-dave-m-or-dave-t.html
Dave
Looks like I missed the second post. Thanks for sharing these!
Alper