Subject: Re: [CR]Chris Beyer
It is a feature of our age that communication draws us together in ways unavailable to us even just a few years ago. Chris has long been my friend in this exchange of letters that the Internet makes possible as a community, but I had an old-fashioned phone conversation with Chris a few years back, one in which we talked about old French bikes and parts and ended up trading some sort of Huret-this for a Huret-that. And, of course, we shared many private emails and read each other's threads like old friends trading letters. I recall especially well his self-effacing manner. Here was a fellow with so much experience and knowledge, love and interest and yet he no aires or pretensions. He was, as Lou so aptly put it, a true gentleman. Rare these days, too rare but in such select company as this.
I too will mourn the loss of this great voice and trusted cycling friend, a person whose curiosity, generosity, and intelligence were matched to genuine integrity. My own regret is that we never met in person. For only such acquaintances I would hope for heaven, so long as we might share long rides, tailwinds, and bicycles.
I want to thank everyone who has contributed an ancedote or a story about Chris here today. I have read every one with great interest and appreciation, and with a deeper sense that our community here is filled with many such fine persons as Chris Beyer whose memory will surely inspire us to continue to treat each other with the dignity and goodness that was his own hallmark.
Douglas Brooks
Bristol, NY