One of the wonderful things about being into cycling is the breadth of things to enjoy. Be it doing something healthy, that might change life patterns or watching the latest pros race. Maybe it’s the bike technology and how the perfect machine seems to be able to be constantly upgraded both with and without the marketing hype. Maybe it’s just going round a corner and seeing a bank full of amazing, deep red poppies or a huge aqueduct to ride beneath. It’s perhaps competing with friends and foes (hopefully no foes) or just chatting as you ride along. There are so many aspects and to be honest I can tick all the above, some better than others.

One aspect is appreciating the history of bikes and bike evolution and hence a little “gift”. Sheldon Brown was no doubt a very interesting character.

He was born at the same time as my parents near Boston, USA. As a kid he would collect old bike parts to make bikes to sell, definitely where he started to learn the vast amount of information he knew about bikes. To say Sheldon was perhaps a bit eclectic – definitely nerdy – might be an understatement but he definitely seems to have been a very colourful character. Case in example his helmet (and perhaps the beard!). See the pic below:

In a world where perhaps social media has made everyone too self conscious, Sheldon rode with an eagle on top of his helmet. I’ll let the man himself explain.

My “Panache” is a plastic eagle which probably began life at the top of a small flag pole. It is a road find. It is held on to my new Giro helmet by a plastic zip tie.

This is a marvelous conversation piece, and has broken the ice on a great many contacts with strangers. Someone on the ‘net once said he thought it was cool, but that he could never do something like that, ’cause he still cared what people thought of him. Well, I too care what people think of me! I hope people will think that I am:

• Independent minded.
• Original.
• A person with a sense of humor.
• Somebody who doesn’t take himself too seriously.

Sheldon even lived down the road from me in 1988/9 in the wonderful, wonderful Chevreuse valley, an absolute must for any Paris based cyclist.

I won’t go on too much. Go explore for yourself the massive amount of information on bikes and some info on the man himself. It’s possibly one of the most comprehensive historical bike technical references out there and basically just very interesting. Go explore here: https://www.sheldonbrown.com. Please leave comments on your thoughts below.