sykerocker 

Finally getting around to writing about it now, but about a month ago, I did one of my periodic motorcycle trips to Greater Pittsburgh International Raceway for the MotoAmerica Superbike races. Only this time I added three days to the trip and headed back to Erie, PA for my first real visit there since moving away in 1977 (I'd passed thru for an afternoon back in the early 90's). Boy has that town changed! Mostly for the better.

High point of the trip was going back to my old employer, A.R. Adams Cycle. The second owner, and my boss, Merle has been dead for about ten years now, but the shop is still going under the sole proprietorship of the fellow who was his mechanic from about two years after I left the place. We spent a couple of hours sitting and talking (oh, he remembered who "Sunshine" was, as did Merle - spoke of me until pretty much his dying day) catching up on the decades. The shop is a lot lower key now than it used to be. While in the same building, essentially a five bay strip mall, it's on the right end in the smallest office, rather than on the left side in the largest where Merle and I opened the doors for the first time back in 1973 (the shop itself goes back to 1914, having been in two previous locations on both sides of Erie up to that time).

It turns out that Merle was planning on closing the business down and retiring, the proposed closing date turned out to be about three months after he died. Said employee bought the business from the estate and kept it going ever since. Essentially solo, both a combination of business and his own desire dialed the place down to a level that he could handle alone. In fact, he still had a lot of old stock still in boxes in the back storage area until the COVID boom hit which cleaned him out. The shop is still selling Schwinn, but Raleigh was dropped immediately after Nottingham sold the rights over in the early 80's and they were no longer being imported from England.

Took the time to stop by the other Adams Cycle in Erie, John Adams Cycle. Merle's nephew, the shop is still in the same location on West 12th Street and still family run now in the third generation. John, who I remember, is long gone, but his grandson is now running the place. Like pretty much every other bike shop I've been seeing, the place was gutted of inventory.

A nice trip, let down only by my being in a rain suit five days out of the six, and the two baseball games I'd planned on attending (Erie Seawolves and Pittsburgh Pirates) both got rained out on the day I'd planned on attending. Well, I know how the Electra Glide handles in the wet, now.

TiHabanero

Life goes on, yeah, life goes on.

SurferRosa

Thomas Wolfe reference? I remember liking that book...

Mad Honk 

Syke,
Good to see you surface again! Last I heard from you you were recovering from a garage fire. Post some pics of the new Syke bike caver! Smiles, MH

sykerocker 

Gladly, This one's set up so I can do one work stand while still having the wife's car parked inside. Now, since these pictures were taken that back wall is full of shelves, the return of the (much depleted) parts department. Finally got this one set up properly, including air lines from the compressor mounted on the wall, five air outlets spaced around this side of the building, and I finally have a blasting cabinet. Which was needed immediately for the specialized tools I did manage to save from the fire. Not many, but the out of production ones. That red stand now has a top mounting both a double grinding, and double polishing wheels.