Meandering with Melvin
ALICE LENEY has been riding old bikes since the mid '70s, and has seven registered, road legal bikes ranging from 1938 to 1965 which get regular airing. He works in the Pacific Islands as a Garbologist, helping out with their waste troubles, and lives in Coromandel, NZ.
Late summer, a misty damp morning in Slovenia. A country road leading into the nearby town; early morning traffic as people head in to work. I am sitting in a bus stop lay-by next to my buddy – 'Melvin' – with whom I have travelled around western Europe the last three months. Melvin has his back wheel out, which is nowhere to be seen: a man has just driven off with it. Some gesticulation and broken English was involved, whereby I puffed and pointed to my useless bicycle pump; he had then called someone on his mobile, and after a short conversation he said "ten minutes" and departed with the wheel. I hoped the
