Chuck,
When I lived in LA there was a mostly black club called "Major Motion." Are they still a going organization? David Feldman
> Bruce Robbins wrote:
> >
> > All this talk of Major Taylor got me thinking about why there seem to be
so
> > few black guys interested in old bikes or cycling in general. This, I
> > stress, is my own perspective up here in Scotland where we don't have a
big
> > percentage of people from an ethnic minority background. Most non-white
> > people here are from India and Pakistan and I love them for their family
> > values which are like those of British people in the 1950s. I think they
add
> > a lot of stability to the community.
> >
> > Anyway, I was going to ask if there are any black CR members and if not,
why
> > not? It would be a bit scarey if old bikes seemed to be the preserve of
> > WASPS and people from Italian backgrounds.
>
>
> No need to be scared Bruce. Out here on the West Coast of America, we
> have all kinds of people riding on classic, vintage race bikes besides
> just us WASPS. The Rose Bowl Vintage Ride in Pasadena, California has
> had Jews, Asians, Blacks, Latinos, Pacific Islanders, and I don't know
> _what_ all else (we never ask about each other's ethnic persuasion here
> in SoCal; it is enough that we all love old bikes).
>
> To be more specific: I have two black friends who own vintage race
> bikes. One, quite well known in the Los Angeles area, started buying
> Italian bikes in the early 1970s. For a while he had each new bike
> painted dark, metallic green. The other only has five bikes: a
> Pogliaghi tandem, a Pogliaghi track bike, a Cinelli track bike, a Masi
> GC, and a Mario Confente (aaaarrrrrgggghhhh... there's the M.C. word
> again that the list is sooooo tired of hearing about!).
>
> Can't think of a single person "from Italian backgrounds" who owns an
> old bike ;)
>
> Chuck "go back far enough and we all have black ancestors" Schmidt
> South Pasadena, Southern California
> _______________________________________________
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