I apologize for butchering Mack's name. Yes I recall his involvement in th e USCF and his daughter. He use to drive the team around in a big old bus. ...... There were two people I met through Mack, both made lasting impressi ons, both spent time on that bus. Dan Casespear (probably spelled that one wrong too) and Greg Lange. I bought my first pro bike off of Dan, I wish I still had it. It was a custom Dick Nolan of Trek fame....... I believe Dan is still in the bike industry somewhere. If anyone knows how to reach him, I would love to have contact info.
Tom Dockery
Los Altos, CA, USA
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org; driveadime@msn.com> From: wnwires@htc
.net> Subject: Re: [CR]WTB: Mondia special> Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 22:36:23
-0500> > Tom wrote: >Don't know what happen to them but there once was a s
hop > in Smithton Illinois<> > Yes, Mack's Bike Shop in Smithton. Mack MacC
onachie was a retired > USAF guy who got the bike thing bad. Very active in
USCF stuff, > too. His daughter Tracy (Gateway East Freewheelers) won seve
ral > medals in nationals and this was in a very competitive environment in
> the midwest as Beth Heiden and Sarah Doctor, two speedskaters from WI >
were also busy making their marks. In the '73-'78 years, I was a > student
at Washington U and would get to know Mack very well. Spent > a lot of time
down in Smithton and rode a lot of the local roads as > well. Mack's shop
was quite a destination for those in the know-- > even for Chicagoans who w
ould drive down "on a mission". When he > bought, he really bought a lot of
whatever item we are talking > about. PX and PY-10s, including the real to
p end stuff with > specially-prepped tied and soldered wheelsets for exampl
e. Beaucoup > Raleighs. And then there were the Mondias. I remember a shipm
ent of > around 50 of them. I was upstairs the day of or the day after they
> arrived and were all unboxed. He remarked about his place in this > litt
le one horse town having maybe the most anywhere outside the > importer or
Switzerland. Boy, to see all of them in the full colors > assortment with t
he "Big Daddy Ed Roth" (as Bicycling would say in a > review) paint jobs wa
s really something else! To our eyes today, > those paint jobs are of cours
e not what we expect from the likes of > Ed Litton or any others on this li
st as our standards are so much > higher, but they were (as were Tigras) qu
ite unique for their day. > I'd say the pinstriping was better than the lug
work.> > So, Tom, thanks for jarring those memories. Mack did have a closi
ng > the business sort of sale in the '80s as I remember. I had a friend >
call me in California and tell me what he thought I would like and he > pur
chased a Huret Jubilee which I still have sitting on my shelf with > the Ma
ck's Bike Shop price sticker, among other goodies, sentimental > and otherw
ise. What I really knew I wanted was still there in the > building after th
e shop closed: the stained glass from above the > entryway. There were 3 pa
nels done in almost a churchlike design: > Mack's, Bike, Shop. I put off go
ing by so as to make an offer on it > to the new owners of the building. We
ll procrastination did me in as > the building was torn down before I arriv
ed on the scene. What > happened to the stained glass is anyone's guess.> >
The last I heard, Mack, who for years had talked of Costa Rica, was > reti
red to Port Perry, a lake community of mostly retirees north of > Cape Gira
rdeau, MO in Perry County.> > Ken Wehrenberg, Hermann, MO, but for now in S
anta Barbara, CA>