The Original Singlespeeder

I made mention of this photo in a past post, but I finally got around to photographing it this morning. This is my father on his Monark Silver King in the Hyde Park area of Chicago, Illinois, on April 13th, 1936. Notice the battery on the down tube powering the lamp on the front fender - he's rigged for night riding. That bike was ahead of its time in that it had an aluminum frame, though that feature was likely to have resulted in it being donated as scrap to assist the war effort once WWII began. My father also joined the war effort, as he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in the Pacific Theater.

My dad is still kicking up in Glendale, and just last year, he was asking me how much a nice, simple bicycle would cost. Unfortunately, a broken hip intervened, putting the kibosh on his bike plans. Nevertheless, I'm pretty impressed that he was still itching to ride at 81 (and a half) years of age.