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84 years and still rolling: What Will You Do on a Friday when you are as young as James Fessendon?
DAVIS/SAN FRANCISCO PHOTO GALLERY
"I'm 84 and I've come all the way from Orinda."
The older gentleman in the white nylon, press-studded jacket rode up to the Bike Friday tent like any other reasonably fit, older cyclist. The only clue that might have given away his tenure on terra firma was the red stamp on his jacket: RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE, CLASS OF 1940.
"Class of 1940 - is that for real?" I asked, thinking of the faux smarty sweatshirts that say, "Yale University" which any bonehead might find in Goodwill.
"Oh yes, I studied architecture, and my father was a professor at the same institute in New York," he said through a perfect set of chattering teeth. The damp San Francisco Bay wind blew between me in my triple layer wicking windproof waterproofs and Mr James Fessenden in his triple layer flannel shirt, woolly sweater and nylon windbreaker...circa 1940.
"I took the train from Orinda and it took me a long time to get from Market street to here, I got all the way over to the Golden Gate Bridge, looking everywhere for you, then I came back this way and spotted you."
The very least I could do for this outstanding cyclist was to affix a shiny new Bike Friday headbadge to his well-used, Green Gear Green, 'Olde' World Tourist. Immediately, the bike went 'ting' like the sugar plum fairy had blessed it with her wand.
Although the average age of a Bike Friday owner is 48+, customers in their 70's and 80's, of which there are several, are extra special people. They show the sedentary SUV set the kind of later life they can look forward to if they stop pushing the gas pedal every time they need to go to the store for a loaf of Wonderbread.Dick and Ingrid Adams, celebrated their golden anniversary by riding their Pocket Llamas to the Arctic Circle, camping wild and covering almost 2000 miles.
But many, like James Fessenden, stay fit of mind and body simply by riding their bikes a little every day.
"My son's got a different kind of Bike Friday. He couldn't make it but I got your postcard and I told him I was going to come."
With that, he turned around, inserted a leather shoe into this toestrap, and pedaled back the way he came.
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BIKE FRIDAY has made previous pilgrimages to its favorite West Coast destinations: Seattle, San Francisco, Davis, Irvine, Palo Alto, Santa Cruz (if only it was as economical to visit the East Coast more often), meeting and riding with customers, towing the egg-shaped trailer full of folded Bike Fridays, ten on this occasion, including a Two'sDay. At pre-cleared park locations, we put up the tent, unfold the bikes, and wait for owners and future owners to flock to the demo like bees to a honey pot. Sales are not taken ever at these event; it is merely to show people what new offerings have come off the line.
Bike Friday Show'n'Ride Team: Dave Seybert, Stephen Strickland, Tim Link, Lynette Chiang (photographer), and svelte new Bike Friday TravelCase.
Davis is a big biking town, home to the very large and active Davis Bike Club. On this weekend many were out on a special fundraising ride for Ed Martin, a respected and much-loved local cyclist who became a paraplegic in a bicyling accident. The morning of the demo we decided to go for a pre-show spin with our host and Tandem Traveler XL owner Don Aumann.
Fuelled by host Margaret Aumann's excellent pancakes, Don, Dave Seybert and I set off in one direction.
Tim Link had long disappeared in another, resolutely hammering out his 4-minute intervals in preparation for the next OBRA time trial, as prescribed by coach Ian Scholz. About halfway in the middle of nowhere we came face to face with Tim, and I made the mistake of peeling off to join him, because at that moment he commenced his next 4-minute hammer and disappeared into thin air. With both biking buddies = and tire repair paraphernalia - receding from me like an Einsteinian relativity demonstration, both my tires suddenly flatted.
Moral: Don't leave home without your own personal pump.
I flagged down a guy riding a Specialized bike and asked to borrow his pump. He was on his way to coach some new wrestling recruits, but instead spent 20 minutes wrestling with the valve of my tire which refused to cooperate with his pump. During this time I made light conversation about the World Championship Wrestling matches my father and brother were addicted to on TV many years ago. "Hey, heard of Mario Milano and Killer Kowolski?"
"Fake," he snorted. I dropped the subject.
Eventually the owner of the farmhouse, Mark, sauntered over and offered me a ride back to town. I gleefully accepted.
Moral: Don't by shy, ask me why little wheels make me fly - or ask for a ride when in a jam.
"You aren't staying with our good friends the Aumanns are you?" he said as we drove into the Aumanns' cul-de-sac. I know Davis is a smallish town but this was pleasantly ridiculous!
Among the many owners who popped up were Jim Skeen, who ordered his BF a couple of years ago, together with three buddies. He stocked up on BF memorabilia: a BF headbadge, BF hat and BF socks. Another couple tried out the bikes and new TravelCase rigged up to the TravelTrailer.
"You hardly know it's there!" said Lynelle, whose partner works in the oil exploration business ... we're wondering if he is planning to ride his new BF around the oil rig to get from one side to the other ...
The new Samsonite TravelCase is a step up from the existing Carlton: narrower but with more internal height and a more ergonomic handle that lets you drag the case along horizontally rather than vertically. I want one. You just have to be careful not to overpack and tip the 50 lb domestic weight limit (70 lbs internationally). Read about Airport experiences with a Bike Friday
The Show'n'Rides often attract some brilliant inventive minds, folks who build their own bicycles, boats or pipe organs come out of the woodwork and ask us, why can't you do this? Why can't you do that? Why can't you make a folding rocket powered BF that goes to the moon? Maybe one day, if and when it's economically viable to do so...
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After bidding farewell to the Aumann Family in Davis the next stop was San Francisco, where we set up the tent in the parking lot of the Sports Basement in Crissy Field. Not In the Sports Basement, as some customers thought, but far enough away to not have folks distracted by so much cut-price North Face fleece and ripstop nylon you could clothe the entire membership of the (I am hopefully going to give them a Cuba/BF presentation and that's a lotta hikers).
The fast social ride to Marin and back attracted just 4 riders: Tim Link and Stephen Strickland from Bike Friday, Dan Kaljian and Mark Slavonia. Mark rode the single part of his Traveler Q, and by all reports kept up with the three Pocket Rocket Pros all the way. It's a hilly route and we're thinking the email saying "Just ride 20+ mph" scared most of the would-be participants off, though we fully expected to get challenged by some carbon fiber big wheelers determined to bury our little wheels once and for all - come on, bring on all you've got!
The Leisurely Ride attracted 15 folks from as far as Dublin (CA), San Jose, East Bay ...
The slower ride attracted 15 folk, including a Moulton, a Dahon, a Trek, and a bunch of new and old Fridays.
Outstanding participant of the ride was Wendy Prufer from Dublin, who drove 40 minutes with her Dahon to ride with us. Wendy had a hip replacement operation last year as a result of marathon running.
"Last year, I was in a walking frame," she said. "One day they told me there was no cartilage left in my hip. Now this is one thing I can do to stay fit."
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"What is this, a fold-up bike club?" hooted onlookers.
"YES-IT-IS," replied one of our members definantly as we wheeled past the ticket scalpers to the Giants vs Dodgers game due to start any minute.
The Bike Friday social ride began with a foray to Golden Gate Park where Crusoe owner and local bicycle activist Katherine Roberts explained her campaign against the impending museum parking garage. She's been on TV the previous night yet many locals had not heard of the plans for the 300-car garage which would apparently destroy the setting of the historic music concourse. Whether you agree or disagree with her, Katherine has a far sighted view that goes beyond whether or not you'll be able to ogle Monet's Waterlilies without getting your sneakers wet walking across the grass: less driving of cars, especially when one can choose alternatives, will be better for all. For health, our cities, the oil crisis, and the sanity of mankind.
"I was told that you have to see my bike," said a voice behind me. I turned to see a titanium folding Panasonic Soma, distinctive with its big hinge in the middle. "Except they don't make them anymore," she said. Oh darn! I'll just have to settle for my custom Bike Friday.
Next stop was breakfast at Kelly's Mission Rock for 13 of us, then across to Crissy Field to meet the crowds at the Bike Friday tent. What a sight we were, a legion of small wheels careening down the road to convince any remaining skeptics thumbing the new 2004 catalog that yes, grown men and women pay good money to be seen on these collapsible bicycles.
Two people arrived on Segways, the gyroscopic platform-on-wheels that reminds me of stepping up on the back of a shopping cart like a 9-year old and riding down aisle thirteen.
One of the Segway riders, Roger, jumped off to place a deposit on a new Crusoe.
"What, you mean you actually wanna SWEAT?"I joked.
"The Segway belongs to my friend," he winked. "I'm really a cyclist at heart."
Another couple waited in the chill wind to ride the new folding TwoDay, which Tim Link folded in a couple of minutes and popped in the trunk of their car. You can see a shot of that on the attached photo gallery.
The browsers and buyers came and went all day in the rain until well after closing time - Derek Liecty stopped by as he always does on his chrome New World Tourist, as did veteran BF owner and world traveler Bill King and of course, commuter James Fessenden. Year after year folks come to our tent, ride with the fold and tell prospective owners what they do on a Friday, how they do it and why.
Bike Friday is not just a travel bike. It's a human scale mode of transport that enables people of all sizes and ages to stay fit and adventuresome until that ultimate rest stop in the sky, which happens to be a long way away for people like James Fessenden...
Our hero Bike Friday commuter, James Fessenden
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Copyright 2004 Lynette Chiang www.galfromdownunder.com All Rights Reserved
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