I fell in love with cycling during the summer of 1976.  I was a student of Industrial Design at the University of Cincinnati and was co-opting for the summer with the Huffman Corporation, in Miamisburg, Ohio.  "Huffy", you ask?  Yes, that Huffy, purveyor of all things wrong with bicycles, right?  O.K., here is the story. 

I was employed for that summer in the Design department at the corporate headquarters.  This was, primarily, a graphic design department.  You know, pink for the girls and blue for the boys kind of stuff.  However, there were "real" cyclists among us.

The group may have been putting together bikes for the local K-Mart, but they drew inspiration from bikes like Bob Jacksons and Teledyne Titans, which hung from the ceiling of the department.  Those bikes combined with the cycling publications (Bike World and Bicycling, as I recall), conspired to peak my interest.  Soon I was making a weekly trip to Steve's bike shop in Dayton, Ohio to look at Colnagos and Bob Jacksons hanging from their ceiling. 

As luck would have it, there existed a dusty no-name 10 speed bike in the barn of the boarding house at which I was staying.  With the owner's permission, I took it to work, tore it apart, cleaned and lubricated everything and added some toe-clips, and went riding.  Every day, after work, to places unknown.  Often as not, struggling to get back before dark.  I was soon calling my wife with stories of my journeys, and telling her about my desire for a "real bike". 

I kept looking at the Jacksons, with their fancy lugs and paint jobs, and the simpler but very athletic looking Colnagos.  In those days Colnagos did not have those funny shaped tubes or fancy paint jobs. 

The following quarter, while back at school I discovered another bike shop in Cincinnati.  Bikes and rubber stamps.  There was a used Legnano hanging on the wall that definitely caught my eye.  But what really got to me was a brand new, powder blue, Witcomb U.S.A.  frameset. 

It was my first exposure to a "custom" American made frame.  The lugwork looked perfect to me, and the simple one color paint had such depth to it that it took my breath away. I think it was a three or four hundred dollar frameset though, which was not meant to be.  It was the Fall, I was a poor married student!  A new bike was not in the cards.

By the following summer my bride bought me a brand new Peugeot PX10 at the local bike shop, at home in Toledo.  I think that I will always remember my first ride on that bike.  We soon purchased a Gitane Interclub for my wife, and we were now a riding duo.  To make a long story a little shorter, we still have those bikes, and I have had a few others, but I never forgot the Witcomb.

What I find a little interesting is that while I was learning all about bikes, Richard Sachs was beginning his odyssey of becoming one of the most recognized framebuilders in the world, and that part of that journey took him to Witcomb in England and if I am not mistaken, perhaps a short stint at Witcomb U.S.A.  Maybe that frame I saw in Cincinnati had Richard's hand in it?

In any event, somewhere along the line I became aware of Richard Sachs bicycles.  I no longer remember the first one I laid eyes on, but I do recall seeing his adds in the back of some of the cycling publications for the 25th Anniversary framesets.  I knew they would be spoken for in a heartbeat, and no, the time was not yet right. 

Some time later the "Hot Tubes" article showed up in Bicyclist, featuring one of Richard's frames.  The pictures in that article cinched it for me.  One day I would own a Richard Sachs.

That day finally came in February, 2001.  I was lucky enough to learn of a bike that Richard had as a "shop sample" that he was selling.  It was very slightly used but had a brand new Joe Bell paint job.  It looked to be very close to my size.  After several e-mails and telephone conversations with Richard, where he treated me as if I was ordering a custom frame from him, it was decided that the frame was a good fit. 

Two days later I was unpacking that frameset.  One week later I was riding it.  And it is everything that I ever dreamed a bike could be in 1976, but with all of the benefits of Richards 30 some years of experience.  The best thing I can say about this bike is that it is perfect.  How many things can you say that about?  So I had to wait 25 years, what better 25th Anniversary present could there be.

Thanks, Marilyn!  Love 'ya.  And thanks to you too, Richard.