I can’t tell you how sad the passing of Sheldon makes me. I have lost an old friend. All of us who knew or relied upon his advice have lost an unparalleled sage, and not just about all-things- bicycles but, more importantly, his mischievous take on life’s little quirks and joys.
I lived a few miles from his West Newton, Massachusetts shop for many years and always stopped in to talk to him about bike stuff, music, cameras, food, movies, books…and the list goes on ad infinitum. To say he was a genius would be an understatement. One look at his writing about bikes (or whatever the subject was) and you’ll see an unsurpassed depth of knowledge that in itself is humbling, but what elevated his stature as a teacher was his ability to distill his Library of Congress-like knowledge of the arcane and serve it up in a form digestible even for limited-capacity guys like me. He was a great educator and a really, really nice guy.
At 2007’s Interbike tradeshow I was blabbing away at the Topeak booth when I heard what sounded like an electric motor stop behind me; I was sure it was some poor wretch on a Segway trying to get a connection for his Magellan to navigate the show floor…but when I turned around expecting to see a “Chariot of My Ire”, I looked down to see the wide grin of Sheldon in his red electric scooter/chair. I exclaimed for everyone in the booth to hear, “My hero!” making him chuckle and smile even more. About thirty people turned around and gave a lovely applause reserved for those who are masters and mentors of their realm.
We talked about what he liked at the show and as usual it was the cool little tools or designs with simple solutions to simple problems. He did say, however, the highlight of the show had been his first time face-to-face meeting of our mutual hero Sky Yaeger. During her tenure at Bianchi, Sky had revived the original simplicity and clean aesthetic of bikes and Sheldon appreciated her torch-carrying for the original form. I was glad to hear they finally met. I wish I had been there. I wish he were still here.
Well my friend, please send us your new URL when you get to the top of your last hill at least to let us know what kind of bike the Big Shop Owner in the Sky rides and if it ever goes out of adjustment. I’ll miss you.
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