Magic in Vermont: the Old Spokes Home

Over the weekend, a bunch of us (it was actually an entire delegation) made our way from Boston, MA to Burlington, VT for the New England Randonneurs Vermont Fall Classic. The ride was to begin early in the morning on Sunday, and since Burlington is quite a distance away most of us arrived the day before. There are many interesting things to do in the area, but the destination I truly wanted to visit was the Old Spokes Home. When I described it to my companions Bikeyface and Vorpalchortle, they agreed that we must see it immediately.






Rolling into town in the pouring rain, we headed straight for the legendary establishment while there was still daylight to be had.






So what is the Old Spokes Home? Oh what indeed. To call it a bike shop is not sufficiently descriptive, though it is that too. But it is also a local hangout, a museum,a piece of history in the making. It is a place that is guaranteed to make bicycle lovers happy. That last bit happened to us within moments of approaching its gingerbread house-like exterior.






Overgrown with vegetation and stray bicycle parts, the "come-hither" energy was quite strong.






It is as if someone unleashed the power of their imagination on the place without holding back.






The bicycles parked in the gravel driveway coyly hinted at what awaited within. Upside-down North Roads. Mismatched frames and forks. Fenders and fixed gears. Holding our breath in anticipation, we rushed inside.






In the initial moments I hardly knew where to look. There was just so much of it that my eyes could not focus. Classic racing bikes peeked out from behind modern inventory.





Velocipedes and penny farthings hung suspended from the ceiling.






And these looked downright commonplace next to contraptions with labels such as "Crypto Alpha Bantam."






And then my eyes fell upon this.






Displayed quite casually between the wicker baskets and the bells shaped like cheeseburgers, was an all-original 1949 Rene Herse randonneuring bicycle.






Chromed. Vitus tubing. 650B wheels. Hammered fenders and chainguard. Single Stronglite crankset.






Though I had glimpsed a couple of Rene Herse bicycles in person prior to this, those experiences paled in comparison. The bicycle at the Old Spokes Home was at once so well-preserved, so classically Rene Herse-ish and so accessible, that I was beside myself. Could I touch it? Yes. And so I did. All over!






One thing that struck me about this bicycle, was how relatively plain it looked by today's standards of custom builds. It wasn't any one thing that created this impression, but the sum of the parts. In person, the bike did not stand out, but disappeared into itself - into the strong visual logic that dominated it. In that sense, the vintage Herse reminded me more of my modern roadbikethan it did of classic constructeur-inspired designs.






As I mulled this over, the owner of Old Spokes arrived - Mr. Glenn Eames. We recognised each other and there was much delight. Glenn was on his way to the Fat Chance party that was being held nearby, but I am glad to have gotten the chance to meet him. Had I made my way upstairs, he asked? I was just heading there.






The upstairs of the Old Spokes Home contains a small museum of vintage and antique bicycles. The collection is labeled, catalogued, and part of it is viewable online. But nothing compares to seeing it all in person.






It is difficult to photograph in the densely occupied attic space, but basically there are several pen-like enclosures behind which the oldest machines are kept. Others are hung from the ceiling. The oldest specimen in the collection is an 1868 Calvin Whitty Velocipede, and there are hundreds of antique machines on display showing the development of the bicycle as we know it.






While my personal interest in antiques is limited, I could not help but marvel at the sight of bicycle history unfolding in front of my eyes.






Bikeyface felt much the same.






Entranced by the magic of it, the three of us wandered around in a daze.






For me some of the highlights included the 1898 "ladies first" Iver Johnson Tandem,






the 1897 “Old Hickory” Tonk Manufacturing all-wood bicycle






(build using layers of laminated bent hickory, including fork and bottom bracket),






and some of the very early path racers and roadsters, such as this 1899 Tribune “Blue Streak" - a30” wheel light roadster.






And I especially enjoyed seeing some of the early step-through frames with lightweight dressguard and chaincase solutions. The earliest lady's frame on display is an 1899 Gormully & Jeffery Roadster, which I really would not mind taking for a spin.





Others wandered in and out of the museum while we were there, and the bicycle that impressed new visitors the most seemed to be this 3-person tandem -





- with its enormous rear chainring. I did not have a chance to ask about this bike and I do not see it listed in the collection, but some have suggested that the purpose of the large chainring was for the bike to be paced by a train - much as Charles "Mile-a-Minute" Murphy did by drafting behind a Long Island Rail Road boxcar.






Deeper within the attic are aisles of vintage bicycles that are available for sale.





Some are refurbished, others not. "This is an antique, not an everyday rider," warned a label attached to a machine with a spoon brake.






But most of the vintage vintage 3-speeds for sale would make excellent everyday riders in a small college town such as Burlington, VT. I was impressed to see how many there were on offer.






In part because of the Fall Classic brevet the following morning, and in part because of the Fat Chance party, the Old Spokes was a popular place that afternoon. Local framebuilderHubert D’Autremont stopped by. His work has garnered some attention at the Oregon Manifestand Cirque du Cyclisme lately, and I've been following it with interest.






As we made our way back downstairs, Fall Classic organiser Mike Beganyi stopped by to drop off some supplies for the following morning. The Old Spokes Home would serve as the start and the finish for the event.






I was glad to learn that the owner Glenn would be taking part in the ride, as well as many of the Old Spokes staff.






We were excited to meet such a nice group of local cyclists, and they were excited to learn that so many of us (I think it must have been over a dozen total) were making our way from Boston despite the downpour that was being forecasted for the entire weekend.






With all the coming and going, meeting and greeting, the atmosphere in the shop felt dynamic and warm, but I don't want to leave out the business side of things. Far from focusing on just exhibiting antiques, the Old Spokes is a fully stocked modern bike shop and repair shop. Burlington has experienced a boom in transportation cycling over the past several years, and the Old Spokes does a brisk trade in repairs and sales. The mechanics station is surprisingly large and busy for such a small town and it was exciting to see the sheer variety of customers' bikes that were up on the stands.






As far as new bikes, the Old Spokes Home carries floor models from Surly, Salsa, Brompton, Yuba and others. They are also an Independent Fabrications dealer. What impressed me the most was their enormous selection of Surly Pugsleys. In Boston, a bike shop might have one hanging up somewhere just for show, and a request to get it down tends to elicit surprise. Here, there were maybe a dozen of these things, ready and waiting to be ridden and bought. I imagine the Vermont winters might have something to do with the Pugsley's popularity!






It was also great to see a Velo Orange Polyvalent that belonged to one of the mechanics. All of the Old Spokes staff seem to ride interesting or unusual bikes.





With the evening upon us, it was soon time to check into our lodgings, and so reluctantly we bid the Old Spokes Home good-bye. We would be back for the brevet the following morning, but honestly it would take a dedicated visit lasting days if not weeks to really look through all the vintage and antique bikes they have stashed in there. My biggest regret is that I did not get to see the Hetchinses and the Flying Scotts (yes, plural), but maybe some other time.






If you like bicycles and find yourself anywhere near Burlington, Vermont, to say that the Old Spokes Home is worth a visit is an understatement. From the extensiveness of the vintage collection, to the warmth and knowledgeability of the staff, to the interesting selection of contemporary bicycles on the floor available to test ride, the Old Spokes can be a travel destination in of itself. This bright, happy, magical place was truly a highlight of our weekend. A sincere thank you to everyone who showed us around and made us feel so welcome! More pictures of the shop and museum here.

A Real Life Visit

Today was a good day - actually any day when I see MSS of Zanthan Gardens is a good day! She came over for a few hours this afternoon bearing Japanese sweets, ready for conversation and garden viewing - mostly through glass. I tried to impress her with a salad containing some of our homegrown tomatoes and basil as we sat at the kitchen table and looked out the window to the fountain, where a constantly changing cast of avian characters acted out small dramas and comedies on themes of status, dominance and impudence. MSS took a photo of the view and posted it on Twitter.




We talked about the upcoming Austin Pond Society Tour that we all look forward to each July.

It will be hot this weekend when we're on the tour, but since the waterlilies are happiest in sun and warmth, like the Mad Dogs and Englishmen in Noel Coward's song we'll go out in the midday sun, hoping to catch some mist from the waterfalls on our faces. Tickets are only $15 - and for that price you get two days full of wonderful water features - don't miss it!




A hummingbird visited the Salvia coccinea while we ate our international snack of tomatoes and basil and soba cookies and talked and talked... about birds and weddings, journeys and parents, movies and restaurants... we may have even mentioned a few flowers. Unfortunately the sun had already wilted the flower I'd most wanted her to see! This morning a young Bauhinia from my friend Ellen opened its first white flowers but they were merely withered petals by mid-afternoon. From our air-conditioned seats we could see the fountain, and the back border, and the magnolia flowers, and the two triangle beds but we had to go outside to look at some other just-opened flowers. I planted two Amarcrinum bulbs along the back wall of the house a few years ago. This border gets strong morning sun but is shaded in the hot afternoon. I was pretty sure this was a good spot when one bulb bloomed last summer. This year that bulb came up with two tufts of leaves, and each tuft has made a flower stalk. Today the other bulb joined in and bloomed for the first time. One stem of delicate pink trumpets would be very welcome this year - a trio of these fragrant lovely flowers was totally unexpected. There was another plant blooming for the first time - one that was impossible for MSS to overlook before she said goodbye. Former Garden blogger MarthaChick was responsible for this show - she'd shared some Crocosmia bulbs in spring of ... In the hot sunny border along the fence this flower looks perfect with a background of Setcresia/Purple Heart.

The amazing alpine photos of John Scurlock!

All Images Copyright 2004/, John Scurlock, Photographer & Pilot.



You have to dbl click this photo!



http://www.pbase.com/nolock/root

Cool Cloud

Autumn Sunset, Grand Portage Bay

A recent sunset over Lake Superior. The clouds lately for our sunsets have been spectacular. Nice variety in the clouds and some amazing colors. Definitely better than August's sunsets, which most of the time didn't have a single cloud in the sky!

How The Cokinos Brothers Came To America One At A Time

The Cokinos Brothers came to America one at a time, one after another. The eldest, Adam, came first and let me tell you, the town they came from was tiny-a one donkey burg-way over the Peloponese Mountains a long way from Athens. Farming and the sea were the top two industries-and still are. Then there is the monastery - the one my father always threatened to send me to if I didn't straighten up. They could have used me. When we went to visit in 2005-only three nuns were left, and they weren't spring chickens. (They call it a monastery;we would say convent) Anyway, it just boggles my mind that my Papou and his brothers ever got out of Dodge way back at the turn of the century over those mountains and down to a port. My grandfather, Panos (Peter) Kokinos came on a steam ship called the Georgia and arrived in America on October 7, 1905. It took him thirty days to get here. The eldest brother, Adam had already arrived and opened a candy store on K Street. They worked together making candy and icecream by hand in the basement until there was enough money for Peter to open his own store at 1103 H Street NE. In 1909, another brother, Dionisios arrived, but he decided not to stay. Then after WWI, they sent for their brother, Alec who lived with his brother, Peter until he got married.

Meanwhile back in Greece, somewhere in the countryside near Sparta, a man walked out to his yard, and a bullet mowed him down. No one knows why. He left behind a daughter, Panyiota, my Yiya, who was soon shipped off to America to live with her brother, Tom and his wife, Christina in New Jersey. Fortunately someone knew a lonely Greek bachelor in Washington who had a candy shop, and no one to share it with. Peter got on a train and went to looK her over. He was a much older man, but a handsome one. In later years, with every story, he would always get older, and Paniyota much younger. The Greeks never put much weight on actual birthdays. At any rate, at age 30, 35 or 40, Peter wasn’t getting any younger back then. They were married at 3 p.m. on July 30, 1914, and took the 6 p.m. train back to Washington.

My father, George, was born at home -919 11th Street NE-right around the corner from the candy shop. He wasn’t allowed to sample so he took to wearing a big overcoat with lots of pockets-winter and summer-and soon lost all his baby teeth to his sugar habit. He didn’t speak English until he got to kindergarten at Wheatley Elementary. The candy stores did great, but then Woolworth’s moved into the neighborhood around the mid 1920s. Adam had bought a farm way out in Rockville, and Peter had bought property at the end of the trolley line - where the street car turned off Wisconsin Avenue at Macomb Street and went on to American University. Peter built almost a block's worth of storefronts that he rented with apartments upstairs. It was going to be his retirement. You can see this building today - it has big fake cactuses out front and is mostly occupied by the restaurant Cactus Cantina.

Adam also had a retirement plan of living in the country. He bought a farm near Tuckerman Lane in Rockville. Unfortunately, his caretaker smoked in bed, and that was the end of that plan. Uncle Adam sold his candy store to the Vilanos family and ended up moving up to Philadelphia, where his wife came from. He started a coffee company up there.

Peter opened another candy shop on Macomb Street, but this time there were no customers. No people lived out there. The workmen building the cathedral would come by though, asking for lunch, so Panyiota ran upstairs and made them soup. Soon the Macomb Cafeteria was born, and they were in business again.

Alec moved uptown with them. Meanwhile, the Haramkapolos brothers had just brought their sister, Koula over from Greece where according to legend, she couldn’t find a man that was good enough to be her husband. Then she met Alec, and when she shook hands with him, she decided he was the one. Koula and Alec were married in 1926 and lived in the apartment over Burka’s liquor.
So that is how the Cokinos Brothers came to America... and stayed.