The Embacher Collection

Seen at Tracko and elsewhere the Embacher Collection showcases some of the very finest and very unique bicycles ever made. However lacking the site may be in BMX (suddenly I was overwhelmed by memories of my mom taking me to a police auction and allowing me to bid on a bicycle. She told me I had a $25 limit so I started bidding on some bike that I vaguely remember being white but who really knows. The bidding went above my bank so like a good son I stopped bidding. After it sold she told me that it was okay to go a little higher. So I took my new freedom to the next bike I saw and actually won it for a mere $5. Only later would I find out that it had no brakes and was in dire need of a new rear wheel but all my joyous eyes saw was "awesome." It was a dark grey Schwinn Predator and after some time in the shop and several car washes later, I was the fastest kid in the cove. Thanks, mom. I love you.) I found that the bikes I was most enjoying are the steel racing bicycles and the city and touring oriented bicycles.





This is somehow not surprising to me as I've found that I more and more like riding my geared bike and hauling my trailer over riding my fixed gear, not to mention that I still haven't decided what to do with the GT GTB frame.

But this realization brings up a salient point: I started this blog to represent the fixed gear scene in Memphis and named it with the double entendre in mind. But if you review the posting that we've done you'll see that it's more about actually making Memphis more bicycle friendly. This is due in large part to the company I keep. Memphis (nor I) wouldn't be anywhere without the efforts of Anthony Siracusa. At times it seems like this man is single-handedly responsible for putting bicycles on the Memphis agenda and we all owe him a sincere debt of gratitude. If every cyclist in Memphis had a 100th of his devotion we'd be beyond Denver and lots of Left Coast cities in bicycling infrastructure. We wish him well as he travels the globe.

As people influence me, I influence others. Even if it was just putting my mom on a bike that she loved I like to think that I was partially responsible for her commuting to work. And my girlfriend Emily wouldn't even think about bicycles and cyclists on the road had it not been for me; now she's a contributor giving us her female (and wholly unique elsewise) perspective on fixing Memphis. Don't think I'm leaving out Josh Gorman who's guidance has helped bring you every alleycat or Kermit "Captain Planet" who showed almost every shop how to recycle tubes or the countless others who in their way try to fix Memphis.

So you can go drool over amazing bikes on the internet or if you're hardcore, put on your rain pants and go to work. Just remember that people are looking at you and thinking that you're doing something really good for everyone. You'll see this yourself as our community grows (which it is continuously) and we all fix Memphis.