Those Were the Days, Email Chatter from February 2001
by Don Axtell and others

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Email to Debbie Wade 2/26/01

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Back around 1994, I was camped out at Davis High School, getting ready to do the Davis Double the next day. Camped next to me was this old guy who was also going to do it. His ride number was #2, but I forget his name. He told me stories about growing up on North 5th street in San Jose and of being a bike racer in his youth. He raced at the old velodrome which he said was where Lincoln High School is now. He also told of riding his bike over to Santa Cruz and back. That would have been on the Old Santa Cruz Hwy back when it wasn't old yet. There would have been no Lexington Reservoir or Hwy 17 at that time. He said his bike was a fixed gear. Those were the days.

-Donny

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Email to ACTC, 2/26/01

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First off, there was no Los Gatos Creek trail. I used to have to climb through a hole in the fence and go on the San Jose Water District Road along the creek, then at the dam, I'd climb up on the west side of the spillway and go through the fence at that end. All of this was totally illegal at this time. This has since become the Los Gatos Creek Trail.

Second, on the Old Santa Cruz Hwy, I used to just stay on it all of the way into Scotts Valley. At Summit Road, I would continue straight across. A few miles later it joined Hwy 17. There was no center divide at this time, so I would cross over Hwy 17 and go down about a quarter mile. At Glenwood Road, I would exit. This was a continuation of the old highway, as you could tell by the concrete roadway that is also present under all of the Old Santa Cruz Hwy.

I had not explored the area enough to know that Mountain Charlie and the Soquel-San Jose Roads were good alternatives to crossing Hwy 17. So, for my first few trips over to Santa Cruz, that was the only way that I went.

I remember Holy City had an old garage on the south side, where there is just an open area now. There was also a spring there for radiator water, not for drinking.

Later, I switched to using Soquel-San Jose Road for my trips over the hill. I remember a spring down near the start of the climb, where lots of people used to stop for water. I always made sure I filled my canteens here. Then, just at the top of the long grade there used to be a fruit stand that I would always stop at. I also used to stop and help myself to a few apples and pears in the orchards along Summit Road.

My bicycle during these years was an old heavy-duty one-speed, with 2.125x26 tires. I bought it used at GoodWill for about $20. It was a woman's bike, as it didn't have a top tube, but had that opening so a woman could step through with her skirt. It had skirt-guards for the back wheel, but I removed them. Since this was back in the "Stingray" days, I equipped my bike with a banana seat and highrise handlebars. The banana seat was high enough up off of the back wheel that I was able to put a basket under the seat to hold my stuff. This was also in the days before I had ever heard of water bottles, so instead I carried 2 army-surplus canteens that were fastened onto the basket.

The one speed of my one-speed bike was a 46x12 combination, which was a gear ratio of 100, equivalent to high gear on a standard 10-speed. My one-speed really had 3 gears to me. #1 was pushing off to start, #2 was sitting down, and #3 was standing. I used to have to stop and rest about 5 or 6 times to make it up Hwy 9. Going downhill was no picnic either. This bike had coaster brakes which were operated by pushing backwards on the pedals, which then squeezed some disks together inside the back hub. These usually worked for about the first half of a long downhill, and then faded and hardly worked at all. I'd have to go home and overhaul them after every ride.

I finally broke the teeth off of my 12T gear. I could only find a 16T to replace it, but the bike was never the same after that. I'd finally worn it out after about 15,000 miles in 3 years.

Now, those were the days.

-Don Axtell

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reply from Debbie Wade

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Too bad you no longer have that bike. Jimmy Baker and I are going to lead a cruiser ride in April. Your old bike sounds like a perfect candidate for the ride.

Debbie

Debbie, Yes, that bike no longer exists. Here is a picture of me in 1975, with my replacement bike, a 10-speed. I weighed 152 lbs then, just having finished a 6-week bike tour. Note the deep, dark tan. A bit more hair, too. I consider myself skinny now, if I can get down to 172 in the middle of summer. -Donny Email from Tyler French Bitchin' fro, Bro. I first went fro in '79. I had a Sears 10 speed then. Tyler Tyler, Yes, those were the days. My 10-speed shown in the picture was an Easy Rider, made in Tiawan, with was selling for half price, so it cost me $50. -Don

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Email from Betty Olsen

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WE RODE The train too. One time coming home from skiing with our faces greased up, my twin sister and I got out on the cabouse and were black faced from the soot. There used to be a wooden flume along the East side of the present Los Gatos Creek trail and visible from Hwy 17. Have a book on Santa Cruz County. I had a bike growing up and remember riding West Cliff Dr. with my girl friend and we collided. My bike was damaged hers wasn't but she broke both arms. When we went to the 4th of July parade, she pushed our way thru the crowd with the casts. It was a great place to grow up in.

Best Wishes,
Betty

Thanks for the memories. I think I'll try to save all of these stories / links that I've been getting and set up a webpage with them. Lots of interesting history here.

-Don

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Email from Joanne Mitani

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Thanks for sharing the local history and your memories. I just got around to looking at everything that was sent yesterday, and enjoyed reading it all. Not being from this immediate area, I appreciate learning about what went on around the area. I'm from Sacramento, so I can identify with a lot of the history of California, but know little about the specifics of the immediate area.

And being pretty close to the same age, I can also identify with your early bike era. I still have my 10-speed Flandria (Belgium) bike that a purchased new when in college at UC Davis. (I finally got a new bike in October -- Kelin Quantum Race.) The 10-speed must weight about 40 pounds. I really have to wrestle it in and out of my car. Your 1975 picture brings back a lot of memories of that era. Ah, I'm getting nostalgic! ...but only for about 5 minutes. i wouldn't want to go back. If I knew then what I know now...

You write very well. Ever think about publishing some of your material to a wider print audience?(But then how much wider can you get than the web???).

Thanks & Cheers,
Joanne Mitani

Thanks for all the positive feedback. I thought it was all good stuff but then I'm never sure about what other people might think. I wish that I had at least a picture of my old bike, as I think people find it hard to believe what I actually rode.

I do have my old journal that I kept while I was in the Peace Corps. I'm about half way through typing it in. One of these days it'll be out on a website. It'll be about 300 type-written pages when its all done. 2 1/2 years worth of my life, all written down.

-Donny

You should talk to Barry Burr about old bikes. (He belongs to ACTC but mostly rides with WW.) On easier rides, he takes an old Schwinn that was given to his father at age 13 by his father's grandfather, so it has to be about 55 years old! Darned thing must weigh about 60 pounds (pure steel, fat tires, one speed - don't know the gear count, coaster brakes) with a really cool battery-powered horn on the tank. Barry restored it a couple of years ago after visiting the antique bike exhibit in Berkeley. He did a really nice job on it. (Hmmmm -- 50 years is antique??)

Wow! I'm impressed with your 2 1/2 year journal. I can't even keep up with my daily calendar, let alone putting thoughts down in longhand! Let me know when it's posted. I think I'd enjoy reading your adventures. What country did you serve in?

There was no TV so not much else to do.

I was in Sierra Leone, Africa, from 1976 to 1978, working on road construction and then water supply. My wife of 21 years, Diana, is a native of Sierra Leone.

If I get around to it, the journal will appear as a link on my BikeMaster website. http://BikeMaster.home.att.net/, or on my wife's website, http://DianasFashions.home.att.net/ She sells African clothes.

-Donny

Thanks for getting your journal started. It'll be fun reading. Maybe if I install my ethernet card, get up DSL up and running, and it rains this weekend, I can do some enjoyable reading. Otherwise I'm limited to lunchtime at work, which isn't a bad way to go either. :-) See you on the road (or trying to catch my breath at the side on some uphill effort). Joanne

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Email from Esther Snively

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I enjoyed reading your "Those were the days." It brought back some good memories -- not that I did your kind of ride but I started out as a kid on that kind of bike. I hope you are compiling your autobiography. You have so many stories to tell. You wrote a piece about doing Mount Hamilton several years ago, along with a few other goats which was fun reading. At least I can fantasize about doing that kind of ride by reading your stories.

Thanks.
Esther

Thanks for the good words. I also have lots of ride reports out on the ACTC story page. And I just added my old Peace Corps Journal that I kept. It is now online at http://PCJournal.home.att.net/

-Don