Intake

Intake

UNNECESSARY EXPRESS DANGEROUS, RISKY, RECKLESS BIG-BOX BIKES

KICKSTART THE CONVERSATION

I don’t usually read articles word for word, beginning to end. I scan them and look at the bikes, and I have never written a letter to the editor. But I started reading about the nonstop Ural sidecar ride from Seattle to Los Angeles (“Unnecessary Express,” June) and couldn’t stop reading until every word was read and reread. Maybe it was the fact that other people were experiencing freezing temps, extreme fatigue, or urine baths while I was in the comfort of my rediner, or maybe it was the fact I was appreciating the exploits of crazy people doing something so stupid that after a safe completion will grow in momentousness with each telling.

If I ever have the chance to do something for no good reason whatsoever, I will not be so quick to say, “Let someone else do it.”

RICHARD STONE

INDIANAPOLIS, IN

UNNECESSARY EXPRESS

Crazy. Stupid. Fun. Correct on all counts. It’s stories like this one that have kept me reading Cycle World for more than 40 years. Thanks to Zach Bowman and Sam Smith (and CW road crew) for taking us along on this epic adventure and doing the suffering so we don’t have to.

GARY ILMINEN LONE ROCK, Wl

Crazy, Stupid, Fun in the June issue was just that: stupid! I did read it but cringed the whole time. Reminds me of medschool interns forced to work long and crazy hours—mistakes happen without this nonsense. Give us more letters to Service and features of homebuilt bikes on the cheap.

GEORGE PEN ICK TALLAHASSEE, FL

Pure, frozen, sleep-deprived gold! “A tribute to purposeless purpose.” Zach, Sam, and company delivered a very humorous and entertaining experience that brought back memories of many miserable days and nights in the mili-

tary. The 1-17 map recap with the constant theme of contemplating the line between manslaughter and murder was a classic. Haven’t laughed out loud while reading in quite a while!

Well done and keep it coming.

ED OSPITAL CYCLEWORLD.COM

Just read “The Unnecessary Express.” That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. I wish I had been there.

CURT SCHUBERT

WAYLAND, MA

Crazy. Stupid. Fun. You forgot dangerous, risky, reckless. I am not a very experienced rider, but everything I was taught about safe riding in the MSF courses, learned from fellow riders, and read about in every other article in Cycle World says that you were both dangers on the road—to yourselves, to your road crew, and to everyone who passed you going in both directions. Congrats on your record! Please, don’t do it again.

MIKE NISS BALL GROUND, GA

We guarantee that Smith and Bowman will never do it again.

BIG-BOX BIKES

At 15 in 1967,1 bought my first bike with money I’d saved from apple picking: a 1967 Sears 106 Supersport. Four-stroke Gilera engine, nice paint, crap brakes, $399. First thing I thought was, “Man, this is neat. I don’t have to pedal.” Rode it for 2,000 miles. The kickstarter on the left side began to intermittently engage when the motor was running. The back of my leg was getting sore so traded it in on a beautiful gold-flaked 1968 Suzuki 500/Five. The other bike available at Sears in 1967 was an Allstate 250 twin two-stroke Puch with a single combustion head nicknamed “The Twingle.” Thanks for the memories.

WAYNE RANSOM CASTLEGAR, BC, CANADA

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