Ken Bird

I'm sorry to have to announce the death of Ken Bird at the age of 65.
Ken, a mechanic to the British team on the Tour de France, the
proprietor of Bird's Bike Centre at Green Street Green and Crystal
Palace, and a noted wheel builder.
Funeral at Eltham Crematorium, Cran Hood Way, Avery Hill, Eltham, South
London, at 10.45 am on Monday 7th February.
--
tom

Tom wrote:

I'm sorry to have to announce the death of Ken Bird at the age of 65.
Ken, a mechanic to the British team on the Tour de France, the
proprietor of Bird's Bike Centre at Green Street Green and Crystal
Palace, and a noted wheel builder.
Funeral at Eltham Crematorium, Cran Hood Way, Avery Hill, Eltham, South
London, at 10.45 am on Monday 7th February.

Sincere condolences to all.
Ken Bird was perhaps the first real 'character' of cycling that I ever
met and looms large in my memories. He once came to our clubroom to give
a slide show in the 70s and his wit and inside knowledge had everyone
laughing in the aisles. He recalled his times as a mechanic on the Tour
de France when he accompanied some of the earliest British riders to compete.
Later he was a great supporter of road-records with his trade-mark white
frames with black decals. I think E2E'er Woodburn rode one of his
tandems with Patson in many record attempts.
His cycle shop was a mecca for many.
He was a real colourful character, one of a few, and will be in great
demand as a wheel-builder at the great tracks in the sky.

John B

in message , JohnB ')
wrote:

He recalled his times as a mechanic on the Tour
de France when he accompanied some of the earliest British riders to
compete. Later he was a great supporter of road-records with his
trade-mark white frames with black decals. I think E2E'er Woodburn
rode one of his tandems with Patson in many record attempts.

When I was a kid in Kirkcudbright the bike shop was kept by a man called
Wullie Law. He was patient and informative and taught me a great deal
of what I know about fixing bikes. The shop is still there, now run by
his grand-daughter, and still sells a few bikes. It wasn't until long
after the old man was dead that I was told that he'd ridden the Tour. I
still don't know how to verify whether this is true. But if it is I'm
even more astounded by how modest a man he was.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us
;; many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets.
;; Imagination without skill gives us modern art.
;; Tom Stoppard, Artist Descending A Staircase

"Simon Brooke" wrote in message
...
in message , JohnB ')
wrote:

He recalled his times as a mechanic on the Tour
de France when he accompanied some of the earliest British riders to
compete. Later he was a great supporter of road-records with his
trade-mark white frames with black decals. I think E2E'er Woodburn
rode one of his tandems with Patson in many record attempts.

When I was a kid in Kirkcudbright the bike shop was kept by a man called
Wullie Law. He was patient and informative and taught me a great deal
of what I know about fixing bikes. The shop is still there, now run by
his grand-daughter, and still sells a few bikes. It wasn't until long
after the old man was dead that I was told that he'd ridden the Tour. I
still don't know how to verify whether this is true. But if it is I'm
even more astounded by how modest a man he was.

So he rode the Tour. So what. If he was modest about it he had it right. It
is something to be modest about. All this hoopla about the Tour is total
insanity. It is disgusting the way some cyclists carry on about the g.d.
Tour. After all, it is a French thing and we all know what the French are
worth -traitors to Western Civilization.

What the French do best is stab others in the back. Any praise for the Tour
sickens me as does any reflection on the nation of France. They are a nation
of whores and were in bed with Sadaam Hussein. Please, spare me any crapolla
about the ****ing Tour.

--
Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota

"JohnB" wrote in message
...
Tom wrote:

I'm sorry to have to announce the death of Ken Bird at the age of 65.
Ken, a mechanic to the British team on the Tour de France, the
proprietor of Bird's Bike Centre at Green Street Green and Crystal
Palace, and a noted wheel builder.
Funeral at Eltham Crematorium, Cran Hood Way, Avery Hill, Eltham, South
London, at 10.45 am on Monday 7th February.

Sincere condolences to all.
Ken Bird was perhaps the first real 'character' of cycling that I ever
met and looms large in my memories. He once came to our clubroom to give
a slide show in the 70s and his wit and inside knowledge had everyone
laughing in the aisles. He recalled his times as a mechanic on the Tour
de France when he accompanied some of the earliest British riders to
compete.

Are you not going to tell us his stories? Usenet may be the last place
(except grandchildren) that they may be told.

Later he was a great supporter of road-records with his trade-mark white
frames with black decals. I think E2E'er Woodburn rode one of his
tandems with Patson in many record attempts.
His cycle shop was a mecca for many.
He was a real colourful character, one of a few, and will be in great
demand as a wheel-builder at the great tracks in the sky.

RIP

"Simon Brooke" wrote in message
...
When I was a kid in Kirkcudbright the bike shop was kept by a man called
Wullie Law. He was patient and informative and taught me a great deal
of what I know about fixing bikes. The shop is still there, now run by
his grand-daughter, and still sells a few bikes. It wasn't until long
after the old man was dead that I was told that he'd ridden the Tour. I
still don't know how to verify whether this is true.

http://www.letour.fr/2005/presentationus/retro.html

"law" as a search term yields no hits that would seem to match.

David Hansen wrote:

On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 18:36:14 -0600 someone who may be "Edward Dolan"
wrote this:-

So he rode the Tour. So what. If he was modest about it he had it right. It
is something to be modest about. All this hoopla about the Tour is total
insanity. It is disgusting the way some cyclists carry on about the g.d.
Tour.

Making a few assumptions, in the days of the grandfather mentioned
by the other person it was not the mass media event it is now. There
were no backup vans full of bikes. Take a look at photographs of
people riding with spare inner tubes round their necks and imagine
what it was like.

One guy early on was disqualified after admitting that he got a child to
work the bellows while he fixed his forks at a smithy. No assistance was
allowed of any kind.

--
Keith Willoughby http://flat222.org/keith/
"Living in a jungle, living in a tent. Better than a prefab - no rent."

elyob wrote:

Are you not going to tell us his stories? Usenet may be the last place
(except grandchildren) that they may be told.

I only wish I could.
I only recall being completely enthralled by both his stories and his
presentation. Thta was what stuck in my mind. Here was one of the first
'real' people I had met who had actually been involved with the Tour.

John B

Keith Willoughby wrote:

One guy early on was disqualified after admitting that he got a child
to work the bellows while he fixed his forks at a smithy. No
assistance was allowed of any kind.

Eugene Christophe. He wasn't disqualified, just given an extra time
penalty to add to the time he'd spent walking 14k to the blacksmith,
then repairing his forks at the forge.

It was his name on the superb springy toe clips that dominated the
market for decades.

--
Dave...

"Edward Dolan" wrote in
:


snip bullsh!t
What the French do best is
snip bullsh!t

I thought the subject of this thread was to show appreciation about an
apparently well-liked cycling guy who recently died.

Show some respect & stop trolling the thread. I've asked nicely...

--
Chris Bardell
[Remove favourite mode of transport from email address]