Goodbye 2020

In the fifteen years I have been writing here on Dave’s Bike Blog, I don’t think I have ever struggled so much to come up with a suitable post, hence the delay. This normally would have been written last Monday.

The problem has been that the subject is pre-determined by the date and traditionally for the last article of the year I must write about my reflections on the outgoing year, and my goals for the New Year. But in a year as disastrous as 2020 how do I do that?

Well, at least we got though it, otherwise I would not be here writing this, and you would not be reading it, so there is a positive thought to begin. What is the big deal about New Year’s Eve anyway? It is just a changing number on a calendar or clock. I believe that time is an illusion, synchronized by mankind to bring some kind of order to this chaotic lifestyle that we have brought upon ourselves.

I find it interesting that the design and engineering methods that clock making brought about, started the Industrial Revolution. I often wonder if something that started as man’s desire to harness time, will end with some form of Artificial Intelligence that can nun this whole shit show in conjunction with Nature. Because it is clear to me that Human Intelligence is diminishing and cannot continue to run things as they are.

2020 was not a particularly good year, but one that will be remembered for sure. Many lessons learned, not only about my fellow man, of traits both good and bad, but lessons about myself too.

At the end of this year a book came my way, mentioned in my last blog post. Published in Belgium, and written in French and English.

I am not saying that this book changed anything in my life, but it did make me realize how my life had changed in the years I have been engaged in writing here.

What has changed is my thinking, my point of view. What a good thing this is, for if one does not change their way of thinking, they become stagnant and do not continue to grow or move forward.

The book titled, “Bike Inspired Creativity. Volume 2.” is a collection of different bicycles, and here is where my thinking has changed. Five or ten years ago I would not have given this book a second look, I would have dismissed it as a “Waste of time.” I have been critical here of recumbent bikes, mountain bikes, anything that did not follow the lines of a pure racing bike was of little or no interest to me.

I was never fond of bikes that were pure art objects, and even now I will go as far as saying I feel if one is building a bicycle that is meant to be ridden then it needs to be built straight and accurate. If something is pure art with no other purpose than to be looked at, it needs to be obvious that it is akin to a piece of sculpture, not a practical bike to ride.

One such bike is one made entirely of wood, not just the frame, but the chain wheel, cranks, pedals and even the chain. The bike was actually ridden on a velodrome and apparently holds the world record for an all-wooden bike. One can appreciate and admire the woodworking skills and the knowledge of different wood properties that went into the building of such a bike.

Here is a practical folding bike with full size wheels. https://www.kruschhausen-cycles.de/

Here is another with full size wheels where not only does the frame fold, but the wheels too. https://www.tuckbike.com/

I highly recommend this book; it will entertain you for hours. Learn more about the book https://velosophe.be/livre Or buy it here, postage is FREE https://velosophe.ecwid.com

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I made it into a new Belgian Bike Book

I recently made it into a new book published in Belgium, called “Bike Inspired Creativity."

The book is a collection of Whimsical, Weird, and many quite Wonderful pedal driven creations from around the World.

The book’s author, Pascal Mageren contacted me earlier this year about an unusual project I had completed back 42 years ago, towards the end of 1978.

This strange looking bike was a photo prop I built for the World’s first living family of sextuplets born in South Africa 1974. The eight-seater bike was built for parents Susan and Colin Rosenkowitz and their six children, to be photographed on the occasion of the sextuplets sixth birthday.

I already knew that in January the following year I would be moving to America, when out of the blue, I was contacted by The National Enquirer, who told me they were the largest circulation newspaper in the United States. This was probably not a lie but misleading never-the-less, as to a naive Englishman like me who had no clue what the Enquirer was, the term “Newspaper” implied it was a publication that printed actual news.

At the time I saw this as a wonderful opportunity to have the “dave moulton” brand become a household name all over the USA, and I hastily agreed to build this thing for free, in exchange for a story in the Enquirer about how English framebuilder Dave Moulton had built this special bike.

The frame was put together quite quickly and cheaply, with a length of 3”x1.5” (76x38mm.) steel box tube forming the main frame. Inexpensive cottered steel double-cranksets were used, and a pair of second-hand wheels and fenders from a moped, conveniently had built in drum brakes.

After all, it was only meant to be used for a one-time photo shoot, and the Enquirer told me it didn’t even have to be ridable. Of course, I was not going to build a bike that couldn’t be ridden. Actually, it turned out to be extremely easy to ride and balance, the heavy steel rectangular tube and the steel chainsets, all below the wheel centers, made it almost impossible for it to tip sideways.

The only strange sensation I remember was when trying to steer around a corner. It felt like I was pedaling forward but going sideways. The bike was finished before the end of 1978 and someone came and picked it up and shipped it to South Africa.

I didn’t even have to build a crate for it, which was just as well because when the picture (Above.) was published in the Enquirer in the Spring of 1979, there was no mention of me, the builder. However, I did have the foresight to paint my name in large letters on both sides of the frame.

This bike just won’t go away, it keeps popping up. It was the subject of the fourth article I wrote when this blog started in 2005. Colin Rozenkowitz, the father of the sextuplets found that article in 2009 and sent me a photo of the six siblings now adults on the same bike.

Then again, a year later in 2010 the bike, still in South Africa, was used on a charity ride with two adults and five children on board. (Above.) Now once again it appears in this new book. Not bad for a bike that was hastily designed and put together for a one-time photo shoot. Then again, I never built anything that was not meant to last.

This new publication is really a neat book, with many amazing projects. I will write more about it next week when I’ve had time to read more. In the mean time you can link to it here.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Joyous Christmas, or whatever it is you celebrate at this time of year.

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I Don't Suffer for my Art

I have a new book titled “I Don’t Suffer for my Art.”

The subtitle inside reads “It’s the people who read this shit that suffer for my art.”

It is a collection of over 1,500 short humorous quips, together with 100 cartoons also drawn by me.

The book contains some strong adult language, and anyone who would be offended by this, I would rather they not read the book. I give fair warning of the content in the opening pages.

Here are a few excerpts:

Did you watch the Kentucky Derby? I haven’t seen that many horse faces and funny hats since the Royal Wedding.

When I know I’m right is when I need to shut up the most.

People buying cake and ice cream never actually “run” to the store. 

“Stake my wife, please.” (Vampire comedian)

According to my eye doctor, my right eye is dominant and my left eye is tired of taking this crap. 

I sometimes feel I’d rather see a person holding a bloody hatchet than a clip board in front of a store.

If you see a guy wearing a suit on a bus he’s probably on his way to court.

I have several motivational posters if anyone is interested, because I don’t think I’ll ever get around to hanging them.

It’s harder for a woman to dance her way out of a welding job than it was in the 80’s.

Do they say? “He died doing what he loved,” about people killed texting while driving.

I’ve spent most of my life dealing with the issue of being a man trapped outside a woman’s body.

I’m paranoid AND needy. I think people are talking about me, just not as often as I’d like.

It’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye. Then it’s a life of piracy on the high seas.

Danger is my middle name. First name: Avoids. Last name: Completely.

When I was a kid I stayed at my uncle’s farm. He said. “There’s 39 sheep out there, I want you to round them up.” I said, “OK there’s 40 sheep out there.”

True friends do not judge each other. They get together and judge other people.

If your kid can arm fart Ritchie Blackmore’s entire guitar riff from Smoke on the Water, he’ll probably go far in life 

I don’t have a problem with caffeine. I have a problem without caffeine.

It doesn’t take much to make a woman happy…. It takes even less to make her mad.

Parents today tell their kids, “Finish posting pictures of your food. There are children starving for attention in other countries.”

Iran declares “A Grand Day of Death to America.” With face painting for the kids.

Are retirement communities grey areas?

I once dated a Miss Universe…. But sadly not from this Universe.

I don’t get it, the accordion is such a difficult instrument to play. You could study to play one for 30 years and best case scenario you’re playing for three toddlers at a farmer’s market.

Did you know you can drop a baby off at any fire station, no questions asked? Doesn’t even have to be on fire. 

Note to every news channel…. Unless they are in a zoo, all bears are, “On the loose.”

Parents today don’t worry about their kids running away fromhome. Mainly because that would require going outside and gettingsome exercise.

Definition of irony: “Getting pregnant on a pull out sofa.”

The book will not be in stores until the end of October. If you would like a pre-release copy, email me at davesbikeblog[AT]gmail.com  

The book is in Paperback, 8.5  in. x 5.5 in. 195 pages. $14 plus $3 postage in the US (Media Rate.) $5 (Priority Mail.) You can pay with PayPal via the "Donate" button on the DaveMoultonRegistry. Overseas shipping unfortunately costs more than the book, but email if you are interested.

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Get back on your bike

Sometimes bad things happen to good people, and when it does sometimes these good people become even stronger and better people as a result.

In 1991, on a country road a few miles outside Wichita, Kansas, two late twenties, thirty-something bike riders were on an early morning training ride.

A 1978 Olds Cutlass with a driver asleep at the wheel, crossed into the bike rider’s lane and hit them head on.

Multiple bones were broken, limbs were almost severed, and it is a miracle the two did not bleed to death.

Somehow both cyclists remained conscious during this ordeal, and lay in the road talking to each other. Trey Hall and Ken Calwell did survive, and after many months of reconstructive surgery, and physiotherapy, both made a full recovery and got back on their bikes.

An event like this would have killed most people, but one of the reasons Trey and Ken did not die was because they were young super fit bike riders, and the work ethic learned from training on a bike, made them both work harder on their recovery.

Forward more than twenty years after this terrible crash, and Trey Hall has written a book. It is a quite thin little book of 135 pages. An inspirational work that every cyclist should read. Non cyclists should read it too, but I doubt that anyone who has not seriously turned a pedal would understand or get quite as much from the book. For example this passage:

I am the definition of an amateur cyclist; old and slow with a stable of really nice bikes. I ride because I enjoy how it makes me feel. I love the knowledge that I can do hard things. When I am on the bike, unlike when I am in other situations, I can inflict my own pain and afterwards celebrate it.

No one but a real cycling enthusiast could understand the true meaning of those words. It has to be experienced to know that feeling.

When the publishers of this book contacted me, and asked if I would like a review copy, I wondered if I wanted to read another book by a bike rider I didn’t know. But the ordeal of the crash, and the message of “Get back on the bike,” was reason alone for me to check it out.

It turns out the crash itself occupies only a handful of pages, and a few more devoted to the recovery. Most of the book is about life lessons learned while riding a bike.

Trey Hall turned the event into something positive, and moved on from there. The positive is this: Without the crash there would be no reason for Trey to write a book, and certainly no reason for anyone to read it.

Without the terrible suffering and recovery, the positive message in this book would be lost, or rather not exist in the first place. The book is well written, full of bike riding stories and anecdotes, some that will make you smile, always entertaining.

My one small criticism of the book is in the Foreword written by the other survivor of the crash, Ken Calwell. It is only four pages long, but Ken includes quotes from the Bible, and writes about God and Jesus. Just as when I meet any stranger who starts talking religion I immediately feel very uncomfortable.

This is not a criticism of Ken Calwell, or his beliefs, it is more a criticism of the editors. Had I picked up this book in a book store, these few references would have been enough to make me stop reading, put the book down, and dismiss it as a Christian publication.

However, I had agreed to review this book so I read on, and I am so pleased that I did. The rest of the book does not follow this same tone. If like me such references make you squirm, just skip the four page foreword and read the rest of the book.

Both Trey Hall and Ken Calwell went on with their careers to become successful executives in the business world. Anyone following a similar career path would most definitely benefit from reading this book. Plus as previously mentioned, a must read for any cyclist.

Pedal Forward: The 10 life and business lessons I have learned from my bike. By Trey Hall. Published by Cairn Publishing Denver LLC.

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Coppi: By Herbie Sykes

Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi was one of the most successful and popular cyclists of all time. 

Born in September 1919, his career spanned both sides of WWII.

His pre-war successes came early, he won his first Giro d’Italia (Tour of Italy.) in 1940 at age 20; to this day the youngest ever to do so.  

After the war he won the Giro four more times in 1947, 1949, 1952, and 1953. He won the Tour de France twice in 1949 and 1952. He won many of the Classics and was World Champion in 1953.

There have been numerous books published on the life of Fausto Coppi. So many in fact that in this latest one, published by Bloomsbury, Herbie Sykes, opens the book by asking, “Why would anyone add another Fausto Coppi book to the slush pile?”

This book is different in that it is a compilation of short stories told by people who actually knew Coppi. Other ex professional cyclists who rode with him, raced with him and against him, ate with him, lived with him, and so on.

Coppi died at the young age of 40 years, in January 1960, when he contracted malaria during a hunting trip to Africa. Had he lived he would be in his 90s now, and so too are the people who actually knew him.

Like WWII vets, they are becoming fewer with every passing year, so this is an important thing that Herbie Sykes has done in committing these people’s words to print, preserving them for us and future generations.

There is a short piece (Page 296.) by Raphael Geminiani who shared a room with Coppi on that same African hunting trip, and also contracted malaria. Geminiani was diagnosed correctly in France, and was treated with a simple quinine shot. Coppi was miss-diagnosed by his Italian doctors, and died.

Along with these stories are photos, many that have never been published before. There are pictures of Coppi racing, and others of him before and after races. There are also many of him just going about his everyday life, and looking at them one is struck by the fact that this man was not just a racing cyclist, but a super star of his day.

Followed by the Paparazzi in the way that music and movie stars are today.

Coppi’s affair with Giulia Occhini, for example, dubbed by the press as “The Woman in White,” when they were both married to other people.

This would have been a story on the lines of Brad and Angelina today.

However, back in the mid 1950s in a deeply Catholic country like Italy, it was a huge scandal that lost Fausto a lot of fans. At the height of this scandal, the Pope refused to bless the Giro d'Italia because Coppi was riding.

It all goes to show the high esteem (And expectations.) in which cyclists like Fausto Coppi were held in Italy and on the Continent of Europe in the immediate post war era.

One cannot imagine photos like this in such a book, featuring the likes of Alberto Contador, Phillip Gilbert, or Fabian Cancellara being published some 60 years from today.

I would class this as a Coffee Table Book, in that it is one you can read though but then return to it time and time again. Enjoy the photos over and over, and share with others. It would make a nice gift for any cyclist, especially vintage enthusiasts.

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