Ted, the PRO

Howdy Bike Riders...

I'd like to talk about a fella I knew back in my LBS (Local Bike Shop) days. I only knew him as Ted. Ted was supposedly a former PRO that rode with Zoetemelk as a teammate back in the old days... the days of Merckx, DeVlaeminck and the like. Ted was from the Czech Republic and had quite a thick accent. He was a domestique supposedly.

Ted was a customer at the shop. He would only talk to me for some reason and he only brought his bikes to be serviced to the shop when I was there. I think it had something to do with the fact that I raced road and the other shop help was into BMX. Regardless, he'd call down and bring his stuff to be worked on. Make no mistake, all of his equipment was PRO. Colnago frames with Campagnolo C Record gruppos... all needing prep and builds... even the wheels. He would bring in the correct spokes all the way down to the bar tape and PRO cable crimps... all for me to build. In a shop that serviced the local POS Sears bikes and pretentious BMX'r bikes... it was the highlight of my day.

After a couple of seasons of building up his steeds, he asked me if I had time for a ride. I agreed. I have to say that the day I rode with him was the cap on the bottle that he had ridden as a PRO at one point in his life. He never left the big ring and his sinewy legs hinted that he had lived a hard domestique life of getting bidons and having his nose in the wind all of the time. That 40 mile ride was an exercise of hanging on for dear life. I was wrecked... and he was all smiles.

After that ride I asked him about only coming to me at the shop... his reply. "You build the wheels for me last year. I see you use spoke prep, spoke washers and checking to make sure each spoke was right length. I see you respect the parts I bring in and that you feel each spoke for tension. You ask me how I ride and how I want them to feel and you adjust the tension. You ask me if I want rear tied and soldered. These things tell me that you know what you are doing. I still ride and love those wheels and they are still true after one year."

I never did ride with Ted again. My time at the shop was coming to an end as I was heading to college. He did ask me for my number to do work for him and I did build a few more sets of wheels.. one set of tubs and a light set of clinchers for him. 23 years later, I still think about the pride I felt in my work from his comments and how if I ran into him today (if he's still kicking around)... that I'd be more than happy to build up some wheels or a bike for him.

Oh yeah... why I tell this story... on that ride we took, he told me of the years he rode Paris Roubaix and having to fetch bidons for his captain... and of hitting the deck multiple times. He also told me how hard the cobbles are and how he rode them to survive. I told him I would someday ride those roads and remember his tips to me.

I remember these details with only 7 days left until my trip.

~Curly