It’s easy to forget that there were cyclists who came before us who were every bit as enamored of their bicycles as we are of ours. It’s also easy to overlook that we’re not the only generation to have discovered the rewards of transportation cycling or the joys of bike touring. But it’s true! And it doesn’t take much to give us a reminder, either. Not long ago I wrote about an article in The Daily Mail which described 72-year-old Owen Hook’s lifelong reliance on his beloved Raleigh three-speed, which he’s been riding for nearly 60 years. When Nigel Shoosmith read “Vintage Raleigh Three-Speed Still Going After 60 Years… And So is its Engine!” he wrote to tell me about his father’s 1936 BSA, which is still rolling along. That’s his dad in the picture to the right, astride his BSA on a 1947 cycling holiday which he took with Nigel’s mother. In Nigel’s words:

They did a tour of the West Country from their home in Surrey during that summer. … All I know about Mum’s bike is that it had a 3-speed Sturmey Archer hub gear and a front hub dynamo. Dad’s bike is a 1936 BSA, also with a 3-speed Sturmey Archer hub gear. Mum’s bike got sold long ago, but Dad continued to ride his BSA up until a year before he died in 1977. His last tour was Hostelling around the Peak District in 1976, at the age of 72.

 
Now, if you don’t know about Britain’s Peak District, then you might not realize that riding a three-speed bike there requires stamina and muscle. Not many modern cyclists would consider a Peak District tour without a bicycle equipped with a 21- to 30-speed derailleur drivetrain.

Nigel inherited his father’s BSA, which is still in working order even after 74 years. And does it have personality! Check it out:

And here’s the advert, for comparison with how the bike looks today:

Nigel considered rejuvenating the BSA, but as a member of the Cycle Touring Club up until his death, Nigel’s father obviously loved the bike as it was. It served his father well as a daily commuter and as a tourer on holidays. If it works, then why fix it?

It’s worth spending a few minutes enjoying Nigel’s full set of BSA photos on his Flickr page, where you can see the full photo of his parents on their 1947 cycling holiday, as well as other photos of the BSA’s details. Surely makes me want to get out of my seat and get my old Schwinn back on the road.

 
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