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Photo by Skip Lawrence
Tom Linton stands with his recently restored bicycle-built-for-four at The Bicycle Escape. |
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In 1992, Tom Linton's 7-year-old son charged neighborhood kids a quarter each for a trip home from the pool on the back of a bicycle built for four.Wednesday, Linton picked up his newly restored French bike, a family heirloom from the late 1960s or early 1970s, from The Bicycle Escape in Frederick . Linton said his father-in-law, Dan Lostiss, bought the bike around 1980 from a Roanoke, Va., shop. When Lostiss died five years later, the Lintons came into possession of the bike, something that reminded his wife, Connie, of her father. Lostiss was a fan of racing, Linton said, and as a working man, he was unable to spend much time with his children. "He bought bikes to play with the kids," Linton said. When he died, Connie's sister got the family's surrey bicycle, while Connie held on to the four-seater. "It's quite old, quite special and quite French," said Tom Rinker, owner of The Bicycle Escape. "It's unlike modern bikes. It's more fun than function." Rinker said restoration took about a month, with all hands on deck. "When we ran into problems, we had to pool our knowledge and come up with a solution." Broken spokes, old chains, rotted tires, loose bearings and faulty brakes were mostly due to age and use, he said. "We don't like to back down from a challenge," said the bike shop owner. "Some parts are so unique. We had the spokes specially made from a custom motorcycle shop." When Linton initially brought the distinct bike in for restoration, a passer-by followed him into the parking lot, then into the shop, to ask questions about it. "There were things that made us scratch our heads," Rinker said. "We had to be creative to get it back on the road." Linton said that he worked hard to find a shop that would take on the task. "Lots of people looked at (the bike) and ran," he said. The Bicycle Escape stepped up, and put in what Linton called "a lot of creative work." Linton wasted no time with the bike, and brought it home Wednesday to take the neighborhood kids for a spin. "It's unique in design and history," Rinker said. "It makes people smile."
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