I was very very sorry to hear of Bill Hurlows passing ,though Id neard from his close friend, John Wild, that he was not well. I went to Condors as a mechanic in Balls Pond Road in 1956 as soon as I left school. 15 miles each way on my bike at 15, regardless of weather, and for 6 days a week for the princely sum of £2.50 a week. Bill worked in a shed at the back of the shop with his frame filer, Louis,{Iwonder what happened to Lou]. Bill built frames for Condors and others with great speed and precision from orders given to Wally on an order form that stipulated the type of build. We had a pro rider at the time called Graham Vines. Tall, quiet and unnasuming, I never knew his successes and He is a mystery of Cycling history. Bill rode from his home on a single fixed bike, now known as a fixie ,and was a well known and quck TT rider. He took me under his wing and subjected me to a 40 mile ride home over Archway Hill each night to home, at 15. If I got out of the saddle, he would glare at me and say SIT DOWN, which I always did after the first time. At 17, I got the best improved rider award in an open 25 on the Farnham Alton course. I did a 1.7.12 ride to finish 12th to Harry Jackson, Portsmouth North \East. who did a 1.1min ride. A windy morning and I was very pleased to finsh 12th out of 120 riders, I also won the Young Rider award. Bill didnt believe it and made me get a comfirmation from the time keeper! Bill was my mentor and many of his instructions are still with me. We made contact on my return to bike riding 4 years ago and, as a freelance journalsit, I asked if I could write his story. But alas, he told me no one was capable of writing his story , and even his great friend, John Wild, didnt know the whole story. Now Bill has gone and his story with him. Any tail written will only be a collection of anecdotes and memories. But the true Bill Hurlow, few people knew. I only knew a smattering, but he left me always with a deep respect for him and his attitudes. I owe to him some of the success I had in my future racing history and he left me with a feeling that he was one of the few people that lived upto his own ambitions. It was with ease that he stood head and shoulders above all other frame builders. His designs, [no left or right hand bias in his head lugs] were individual as was his unique style. He was a siccessful in building welded frames and his lug work was not evident, but th frame was still a Hurlow and we knew it, that certain something. Bill built for many shops, and not all will be known, Mall Rees was one, Holdsworths, whos frames went down hill after Reg Collard built them in the 70s or maybe before. Whatever, Bill was an historical figure in the artistic skill of cycle frame building and to prove his skill and versatility, after his wife died in the 70s, at he age of 78 ish, Bill took a degree in Italian. A unique man. and I wish we knew more of him. Keep riding Bill, without you, I doubt I would have. Ill Miss you. As a poscript, Its rather a shame that the Amercan side of the pond are the ones who will have memorial to Bill. The Brits cant be bothered. If you want to ,Contact me. Barrie Carter. in a Hurlow less vacuum, Roundham, UK
________________________________ From: Peter Koskinen <prkbikes1@mac.com> To: hmsachs@verizon.net Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Sent: Thu, 4 March, 2010 4:07:25 Subject: [CR] bill Hurlows passing/ bike shop in dc
That shop would have been Georgetown Cycle Sport at 3310 M st NW, Washington DC, 20007.
Mike Schwering and Danny Wagner were the owners. Mike was into importing all the great brit bikes large and small. The ones he didn't buy up, Mel Pinto and Clay Grubic did.
At last count, Danny was still living in Montgomery Co. MD and Mike Schwering is pushing up daisy's in some cemetery somewhere...
I see that my memory for old cycling history in DC hasn't left me yet despite my flight thru the sky....
Peter Koskinen
Chapel Hill, NC
h/o: 919.960.5871
http://www.prkbikes.com
prkbikes1@mac.com