I gave a call to Chuck Schmidt earlier today and was surprised to find that he was neither home, nor out on one of his daily bike rides. For somebody like Chuck, who works from his home, this is a rather odd circumstance. His wife Cheryl then gave me the bad news: Chuck was involved in a rather nasty accident and is presently in hospital. Apparently, as he was returning from his ride yesterday evening at about 7 PM, he came out the loser of a tangle with a SUV. The exact dynamics of the accident are still not clear, and apparently Chuck does not even recall the event himself, but the results had Chuck going through the rear window of the SUV. He was taken away in an ambulance with multiple contusions/fractures of scapulae, clavicles, ribs, knee etc and a rather deep gash to his neck that required surgery.
At event + one day, he has already begun sorting out his priorities, allowing his love for vintage bikes to supercede his personal situation. In fact, Cheryl tells me that he was giving immediate thought to tomorrows (Sunday) vintage ride, as well as the upcoming San Francisco Grand Prix and his own event, the Velo Rendezvous. As he had posted earlier this week, a reporter and photographer had already planned to be present for tomorrows ride, ,to follow up on a previous article that had appeared in the LA Times. It would be truly fitting if all those of you who are local could make a special effort to make it out tomorrow as a special tribute to Chuck. His post of September 2nd was:
"The LA Times is planning another article on the vintage ride and the renewed interest in retro bikes, so they are sending a reporter and photographer to this Sunday's ride.
If you ever wanted to be in the newspaper, now's the time...
Starts at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California every FIRST Sunday of the month. Meet at the pool/picnic area parking lot at the south end of the park at 10:30 am to introduce yourselves, talk bikes and swap parts. Ride will start at 11:00 am sharp.
The ride will be a casual-paced 25 miles long through Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Marino, Temple City, Arcadia, Sierra Madre, Altadena, and back to the Rose Bowl for a picnic and more vintage bike talk. The ride is mostly flat with one moderate climb (fixed gears are fine in other words). Everyone is encouraged to bring and ride a 1985 or earlier bicycle, but feel free to ride anything you have."
Chuck also has looked at the logistics of his upcoming event: Velo Rendezvous, on October 1-3 and is very upbeat about it. At this advanced stage in the preparations and after a number of successful previous editions, the event is quite well oiled and should not suffer. He has even gone so far as to tell his wife that, with all the support of his many great friends like Paulie and Matt, he is certain that there is not cause for concern by those planning on travel from afar. He was quick to point out that there have been numerous overseas participants in the past and a foreseen participation from as far away as New Zealand for this event.
Given that I hope to speak to Chuck tomorrow, if anybody has any thing that they would like me to pass onto him, please drop me a line.
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Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ