Eric,
You'll probably get quite a few replies about Dr. Graves. And, this one may be the least informed. I trust the San Diego area folks will contribute. It's my understand that he was a well know advocate of bicycling and especially cycle touring and youth cycling.
In the mid/late 70's, I went to a show and tell presented by Dr. and Mrs. Graves at the AYH hostel in San Diego (Point Loma). I think he was from La Jolla (across Mission Bay, and up the coast from Point Loma).
The little hostel was filled to capacity, and Dr. Graves enraptured all with stories of a recent (the first) cycle tour in main-land China. He was lucky not to have been incarcerated, since his travels greatly exceeded the limits of his visa -- they could have been picked up at any time. From the audience reaction, I'm sure I wasn't the only one who wouldn't have had the stones to ignore official travel restrictions.
In addition to the many marvelous images presented in his slide show, two of Dr. Graves' comments have lingered in my mind, and they are telling of the vast cultural differences:
While in Peking, the bell on his bike gave up the ghost. Since they are an absolute necessity in China, Dr. Graves went to a local shop for a new bell. To his surprise, the fellow behind the counter didn't offer the good doctor a new bell. Instead, he disassembled the bell and identified the failed part. Then he opened a compartmentalized drawer and found the exact part from a neatly sorted collection comprising every part for every bell in China. The part was exchanged and the bell returned to Dr. Graves. He was flabbergasted by the level of service provided with the purchase of a penny part. Also, that a whole drawer was devoted just to bell parts. Anyone ever seen anything like that any where else?
Dr. Graves said that navigating in China was a real chore. Often a road would simply stop at a river -- no bridge, nor ferry. Typically, the local villagers had no idea what was just down the road. Their lot in life was to follow the government edicts, which didn't include much travel. There were no maps available, and he assumed they were tightly controlled by the government. He thought they were keeping the people as geo-ignorant as possible as a precaution against counter-revolutionary activities.
My Sloane is the '74 edition, "The NEW Complete Book of Bicycling," and has served as a general reference for years -- it's the newest bike book on my shelf. Can someone recommend a modern equivalent? I'm newly returned to bikes, and I'm totally in the dark about such things as: index shifting, foldable clinchers, clip-less pedals, non-ferrous frames, cassette hubs, thread-less headsets, deep rims, wheels with seemingly too-few spokes, etc. After 18-years in storage, I've just removed the cob webs from my wife's '68 Para. P-15, my '78 Masi* and our '81 Santana. Needless to say, some of the soft stuff wants replacing. To my old eyes, the contemporary parts lists look they've come from outer space.
*Masi: Based on the ser. no., Mr. Baylis has tentatively identified it as a possible Carlsbad-to-San Marcos transitional model -- thanks, Brian. There's still a large spider lurking up in the saddle rails. After I get it thoroughly squished, hopefully the bike can be subjected to Brian's scrutiny for further ID.
Pete Imandt, Ramona CA