Yeah, I have some pictures of all those guys in California during the '30's.
I have to show them (several hundred!) to Gus Gatto and a couple of guys to
get them all ID'd
I acquired a collection and not all are captioned.
Times a wastin'.
Ted Ernst
Palos Verdes Estates,
CA USA
> Matthew Bowne wrote:
>
>> Most of my family in Southern California gathered this weekend for my
>> brother-in-law's surprise 50th birthday party. I unfortunately was 3000
>> miles away and unable to attend, but got a full report from my father,
>> who was thrilled to tell me about a gentleman he spent a good portion of
>> the evening speaking with.
>> At the party, he was introduced to an old friend of my brother-in- law's:
>> a former Olympic track cyclist and six-day racer named Russell Alan.
>> Russell Alan, now 93 years old, raced in the 1932 Olympic Games in Los
>> Angeles and while he competed until 1940, remained active in the
>> California racing community for many more years. According to my
>> father, Mr. Alan never held a full-time job for very long, instead
>> persuing a career as a "professional gambler".
>> At the age of 92, he set some sort of record as the oldest man to bungee
>> jump at a gorge in New Zealand. Last year, the feat was repeated by a
>> 93 year old man and Mr. Alan 's record was smashed...temporarily.
>> This year, Mr. Alan will spend his 94th birthday on that same bridge in
>> New Zealand, reclaiming the spot at the top that is "his".
>> Once a racer, always a racer. And it's inspiring for this twenty-
>> something to see that even at 94, a determined man can still have some
>> cork!
>> I am hoping to get a chance to meet Mr. Alan next time I am in
>> California. Oh the stories!
>> Does anybody recall seeing his name? Mr. Ernst?
>>
>> A quick google search turned up this interesting 1988 interview:
>> http://www.aafla.org/
>>
>> Matthew Bowne
>> Brooklyn, New York
>
>
> Thanks for the link to that wonderful interview Matthew!!!
>
> Highly recommended reading if any of you have an interest in a first hand
> account of cycling at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics or US Six Day bike
> racing in the 1930s.
>
> http://www.aafla.org/
>
> Chuck Schmidt
> South Pasadena, Southern California
>
> .