Most folks know I started down the bike path with first balloon then muscle bikes only to wind up finding my real passion with the road stuff. There we two events that took me in this direction. One was meeting Steve Willis at the Bike Stand in a nearby town. The second was a chance finding of an early 1890s Davis Sewing Machine Co. road bike on the side of the road, in the dark under a huge pile of wood many years ago. My eyes were/are well tuned to spot a bike from 100 paces in any direction and this was one of those cases. All that was exposed was the head tube with badge and that was tucked in between several planks. After re-arranging the pile of wood I liberated the bike which was complete but the tires had long been petrified and the front wheel which was wood was in bad shape. The rest of the bike was there and in solid condition.
This started my interest in the road bikes and it went along with me on my very first trip to T-town many many years ago. This was the first time I ever sold bikes there and I had a pile of stuff from my balloon and muscle collection. I also had the Davis on a rack on the back of my station wagon.
I remember it clearly as if it happened yesterday. Before I even stopped my Subaru wagon there was a guy on me with a flashlight asking how much I wanted for the bike. I figured I would give him a high ball price to drive him away so I could set up without a hassle. I said $395, I think, as I got out of the car. He countered with anoher price and I said no as again I wanted just to unload and do it in peace. Well he popped his wallet pulled out 4 bills and handed it to me, took the bike off the rack and I never saw him or that bike again.
Ray Homiski
Elizabeth, NJ