I think those of us who live in rural areas tend to see old bikes more often than those of you in more populated parts of the country. When I'm in Maryland I never see a vintage bike. Old there is 1990's. Even following Craiglist and putting out ads produces next to nothing and when something does come up it must be made of special semi precious metals if the price is any indication. Some dumps (mine is actually a transfer station with a separate metal pile, but I still call it 'the dump') allow you to pick & grin and others don't. Mine allows it or looks the other way. I go usually twice a week with some excuse for dropping off metal... usually what is left over of a bike I scavenged the time before. So it is just the time and gas money in going for a look see. Top find was a 50 Panther, then a 55 Huffman, but lots of other usable stuff. My ad in the local paper this summer turned up two freebies from the sixties and two old winners... a 42 I think it is, a Schwinn "The World" and a 51? Schwinn step through in good condition. $25.00 for the 42 and $20.00 for the 51. But... what is coming next may be incredible. I got a call from a gentleman a few weeks ago who identified himself by name (a name I recognized from 25 years ago) who said that when he moved to my area he left behind a bike shop in Illinois, but brought with him his inventory of bikes, wheels, tools of the trade, etc. to do as a sideline. He had gotten a good job in this area, but bikes were kind of in his blood. Now he is of retirement age and wants to get back into doing bike work... and he has sheds full of bikes, parts and one with just wheels, also bikes under tarps... lots of bikes, some of them pretty old. I couldn't believe it, yes, like bikes falling out of the sky! I identified myself, we caught up on old times a bit and made a viewing date. I had never even known this guy was into bikes. Of course, at that time I wasn't and would not have noticed. Fasteddy was visiting at that time and we met Scott in town. He was in his backyard, which indeed had a number of sheds... we peeked inside and sure enough there was a nicely outfitted bike shop and sheds of bike stuff, frames hanging, etc. I didn't have the time or good light to know what I was seeing, but I figured there were probably some treasures in there. But the real deal was under the tarps which spread for maybe fifty feet long by two bikes deep in width. It seems that a mutual Indian friend who is a welder and searches for metal treasures at the dump regularly started bringing Scot bicycles as soon as it was announced that the old dump (a landfill) would be closing. So for a good period of time bikes kept appearing in Scot's backyard until he finally asked that it stop as there was no more room to put them anywhere. Amazing. Steve and I looked out at the tarps wondering what might be under there... Scot didn't have much time that day and lifted up two of the corners for a peak and I could see a couple of old step through cruisers from the fifties or earlier, Schwinns I think, in pretty good condition. Of course I wanted to tear off the tarps and see the Elgin Bluebird or Schwinn Motorbike hiding in the dark, but that would come another day. We renewed our friendship and Scot seemed interested in our talk of motorized bikes and sidecars although he was a pedal bike guy by experience. He said he needs to go through everything and get rid of a bunch of stuff to make room. He had hip surgery and doesn't get around so well anymore and could use some help. I of course volunteered my services and it sounds like in exchange for helping him go through bikes I will get some old timers for free. He had a death in the family and is now working part time at another job, so I'm waiting. I called a few days ago to let him know when I'll be leaving for the east coast and he still want me to help him. I will take my camera to record the great unveiling. It will no doubt be mostly bikes I have no interest in... ones with skinny tires and derailleurs, but I'm hoping for a cruiser with a straight bar frame like an old Elgin or Rollfast, maybe a Colson. Who knows what is under those tarps. Please let there be a couple of monarch springer forks in there... stay tuned to this station for a report of breaking news. Ha!
SB
