During the past two weeks several bicycle manufacturing companies have failed. Two failed in Chicago during the four days we were there. One quite naturally asks himself what effect this will have upon the price of wheels. It's rather a hard question to answer, and at first blush it would seem to indicate a drop in prices, but this is the way I have looked at the question: most of the companies which have failed were those who went into the business thinking that a wheel could be put on the market at a much lower rate than the prevailing prices for high grade machines. They have found it an expensive experiment. The sheriff is selling their stock and the result is that thousands of people will be supplied with cheap wheels. When they go to the repair shop or send for an extra part they will be met by the statement, "That wheel is not now being made and we have no extra parts in stock." The wheelman will become disgusted and when he buys another wheel will get one that is a standard high grade machine. It is far better to pay $75 for '96 wheel of a standard make than for a '96 wheel bearing one of the thousands of name plates which no one has heard often enough to remember. By so doing, you may, at least, be assured of being able to get parts for your machine should you require them, and, too, the next year your two-year-old high grade wheel will be in better condition than the cheap yearling.
During my recent five day layover, I called the historical society in Goshen and was told that there was scant information available about the Ariel company. However, a man named Dale returned my call with information of some import. He had assumed the role of keeper of the business historical archive, and he was quite familiar with the fate of Ariel. It seems that there was a bank panic in 1897 and the loans to this company were immediately called. Under those circumstances no business could answer this call and the company went bankrupt. Some time later a rubber company started up in its place, and thrived for many years. Dale said that he himself had worked in the rubber factory for some years, but he was very pessimistic about finding any photographs or other historical artifacts about the former tenants.
I was very disappointed, as much by the news of the early demise of the company as by the emptiness of the historical record in Goshen. There now seemed little reason to visit the town, and this led to my decision to cycle through the southern part of the state, pointing next (in a somewhat indirect fashion) for the town of Jefferson, Ohio, where Charles Babcock lived. I have heard from many sources that the southern parts of Indiana and Ohio offer excellent cycling and I can say that what I have seen so far corroborates this.
My day's excursion was from Franklin, through Shelbyville and Milroy to Connorsville, and my experiences continue to be positive. In both of those intermediate towns, rather than speeding through, I lingered awhile and met some very interesting folks. In Shelbyville, they are having a week long celebration, and they have blocked off the center of town for evening performances, and for daytime benefit lunches. Today it was the Shriners putting on brats and sourkraut and I was reasonably certain one could power a bike on such fare.
The last encounter of the day was with a fellow who was very interested in the mechanics of keeping a web site while out on the road. We talked about this and that at great length and he offered the use of his computer and a bed for the night, and I might have taken him up on it, but for the fact that he lived 60-80 miles in the wrong direction. When I told this story to my wife, I could hear her scratch her head and say "Direction?..... I haven't seen much direction in your itinerary thus far."
With all this lingering, I did not make it to Ohio as I had intended, and so I have one more night in the Central time zone. But I did manage 70 miles, getting in at 6:30 just as the sun was setting behind me. It is nice to ride the last couple of hours with the sun at my back. It is a serene time of day, and I like the idea that I am being pushed along by low trajectory photons.
The days are getting noticeably shorter.
Dennis