Hello everyone. My name is Larry Hakim and I'm the guy who has been calling everyone lately to see about getting my old Condor road bike restored. At any rate I'm 46 years old and like most in my age group followed the standard trajectory going from a balloon tired-bike to a Schwinn Stingray to an entry level Boettechia 10 speed by 1971. When the Boettechia got stolen I upgraded to a beautiful Holdsworth Professional I bought from Rattray's (The Flying Scot builders) in Dundee, Scotland.
Alas, the the Holdsworth got stolen too, and with the insurance money had Condor Cycles in London measure me up for a road bike with criterium geometry and an ultra-short wheelbase per my request. They also sold me a track bike. The road bike is finished in what they called "satin chrome" and the track bike is brass-plated. Both are full Nuovo Record equipped.
I initially got into racing after reading something in my about the Tour De France in my 7th or 8th grade class. This was in 1970 or 71 and I was absoltuely captivated--especially by the part about the racers hitting 60+ m.p.h. on the mountain descents on their lightweight bikes. I came home that day and announced to my incredulous parents that I wanted to become a professional bicycle racer and win the Tour De France. My parents were not amused.
At any rate I did closed road and criterium racing for apprx. two years in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and my home state of Michigan, distinguishing myself by usually being the first or second rider to drop out. Along the way I trained, raced with or simply got to meet people such as Clair, Roger and Sheila Young, Connie Paraskevin (all us guys had crushes on her) Dave Grylls, and Rich Vroom. Rich and I went to high school together and also trained and raced together for a while. I understand he still races in Utah. He also married Janie Brennan who was a formidable racer in her own right.
I also was fortunate to ride in Scotland during this time. My best friend in Scotland was Graham Barclay whom some U.K. members may recognize as a wonderful time-trialer. Graham's son Kevin has taken up the torch and next week will try to qualify for a spot in the Youth Commonwealth games.
I would have to say that my two biggest mentors (both sadly now gone) were Mike Walden of Michigan's Wolverine Sports Club, and Bill Jacobson of Jake's Bike Shop in Harper Woods, MI. Mike was a legendary figure and highly opinionated. Bill took over ownership of his family's bike shop and was a collector of fine steel frame bikes. I still can remember going into his store and seeing assorted curly-stay Hetchins, Pogliaghi's and Cinelli's, along with an old Paramount track bike w/wood rims. He also freely gave of his time and advice to us youngsters hungering for info and tips on racing and equipment. He also loaned us a beautiful RIH track bike which we had fun flogging on Detroit's old concrete outdoor track.
Ironically I got out of racing soon after getting the Condors. We were all going away to various colleges and I was entering a new phase of my life with new interests and demands. The track bike went into storage and the road bike became my occasional campus commuter bike. By 1979 I stopped riding altogether until I got back on around 1986. By then the biking landscape had changed--where 14 years earlier we had been pioneers getting our black-wool butts run off the road by irate drivers, America now hailed a new sports hero by the name of Greg Lemond. Triatheletes dominated the landscape. A new generation of Americans had gotten into racing thanks to a 1979 movie that launched the career of Dennis Quaid and featured an Italo-phile lead character pedaling his romantic heart out on a red Masi. And even balloon tire bikes were back in vogue although they were now called "mountain bikes". The racing bikes also were changing in style, materials, and componetry. I felt really out of touch and wondered if anyone even cared anymore about these amazing racing machines from the 70's we had treasured as much for their aesthetic merit as for their pure functionality.
Eventually the Road bike followed me down to Mississippi. But I was still haunted by the question of why these wonderful old hand-made, handfinished, and hand-detailed racing bikes with their exotic European names were so underappreciated. It wasn't until I began poking around the 'net that I discovered that in fact there is an extensive group of people, who like me have not discarded their first and true loves for the latest in carbon fibre technology.
I have had fun visting the CR, Campy only and similar sites. And I have recieved wonderful advice and information from guys like Grant at Rivendell, Brian Bayliss, Pete Weigle, Richard Sachs, Jim Cunningham, and Joe Bell, among others who have patiently handled my foolish questions. Above all I'm excited to discover--just like I discovered over 30 years ago when I first got into this thing--that I am not alone.
At any rate I hope I have not broken any protocol, overly bored anyone, or made myself look too much like a hackneyed writer with too much time on his hands by posting this looooong intro.
And I do look forward to bombarding the group with questions galore and learning as much as I hope I can contribute.
Larry