Restoring a 1969 AMF Discoverer Roadmaster is some good bike loving … or the thought that went into a belt drive with a Rohloff and a mini S&S coupling. There’s also the time spent teaching a child about her bike and the danger of loving a bike too much. My bike love photo is this one from our trip to Maui.
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Not really Bike Lover Related, but I thought I’d share…
It’s funny the things you can do to make drivers happy when commuting on bicycle. I was headed down Roosevelt (3 or 4 lanes, one-way street). I was in the far right lane, which sometimes becomes the parking lane too. At a stop light I stopped a little further back than normal so that I wouldn’t be standing on one of those bike-wheel-sucking-storm-water-grates.
That space gave just enough room that drivers could squeeze by me and make a right turn on red. The second car that did this was a guy in a beamer. He enthusiastically waved both arms at me as he drove by and gave me the double thumbs-up (no hands required to drive those cars evidently), plus mouthed thanks. Evidently I had made his day.
Now I appreciate that this brought them such joy, but ultimately even if I had been blocking this lane by waiting at the crosswalk, they only would have been delayed 15 seconds until the light changed. That “whole” time though they probably would have been grinding their teeth pissed off that this biker was slowing down their four-wheel-commute.
No real moral here, but I guess I just wanted to point out that relatively small gestures can make all of the difference in the way drivers perceive bikers.
Hey Byron—that belt-drive was built by Doug Curtiss of <a>Curtlo Cycles</a> up in lovely Winthrop, Washington. As one of the few true bargains in custom steel, I’m hoping Doug’s work gets due props for catching on to this city-bike thing.
The S&S is used to release tension on the belt drive for wheel removal/install. He also made some pretty cool Jones-style city bars and an integrated, frame-colored rack.
Good evening,
I’m a Seattle expatriate (moved away in 2003 during the aerospace crunch) to Morgantown WV. Here I’ve started a community bike shop and sustainable trans advocacy non-profit. During our first day of our Fall bike recyling collection a 1965 AMF Skyrider showed up - in exactly the same colors and condition as my first bike. Even has the original tires.
Nick Hein
Awesome. I amazingly [spotted](http://www.flickr.com/photos/huggerindustries/1321575269/) a Sears Special bike like the one I had as a kid out on a ride once.