I just got 2 stories in the new issue of “Bicycle Times”!
The main news item would be that one of the stories is the first profile of Mackinac Island bike culture in a US bike mag!
Man, it’s satisfying to paying my props to my roots! It’s been a long time coming. But I’ve tried quite a bit over the years. And I’ve posted a fair amount here, too.
I owe a lot to the Island. It’s where I got doubly-inspired for the first time about so many things. It confirmed and accelerated the way I was headed.
Bikes, skis, boats! Friends, girls, books! Adventure! The Island is all that.
When I was a dishwasher at the Iroquois, age 18, my roommate said: “Have you ever heard of Hunter S. Thompson?” I said No. The rest is history. Heck, he mighta even put me onto Jack Kerouac. Tom Wolfe.
That summer I did my first bike race. Then I biked home from “The Rock” 250 miles in a day-and-a-half with a guy who I only met as we joined up to ride home. Tim “Moby” Johns, a Seattle bike messenger. He said: “Have you ever read Richard Brautigan? Ever heard “Low Spark of High Heeled Boys”?” I said No and No. And that started that!
The summer before my brother Tim, a friend, and I did our first big bike tour for a month and a half (for $150 ea.) that stopped at the Island. Early the next morning I saw the Chicago Mack sail race winner pull in. I was the only person awake so I ran down and caught their bow line. Later on I saw my first wooden cruising sailboat with its crusty captain. It had a smokestack. I was impressed that day.
Then there were all the dynamic outdoor sports women up there going just as gungho as the guys. The inspiration topped the charts at that point.
A few years later I joined up with Islanders out in Breckenridge (7 in an old miner’s shack) and that started a whole new ball rolling. Whew!
So the article is a little payback…
The other article is a profile on a nifty bike museum down in Ohio.
These are my 1st natl bike mag stories! The stories don’t seem to be online so you should subscribe. After all, “BT” is the only indie general-coverage bike mag on newstands. …Pushing the bike culture cause!
https://www.bicycletimesmag.com/web
