I was recently searching through the archive folders on my laptop and I came across some interesting things that I had long forgot about. These took such forms as bicycle sketches, notes on my thoughts, rim sketches, etc. In particular, I came a cross 4 sketches that really had me thinking back a few years.

The above sketch is my very 1st design in over 23 years and I was still trying to figure out what path I wanted to take as far as designs go. In the above design, my thoughts were creating a bicycle that had all of the elements of ‘Funk’ yet characteristics of old school bicycle design. This particular design was set to be;

- Pearl in color
- A 7 inch long- 2 dimensional- blinged out logo
- Huge diamond shaped mags
- Old School cruiser handle bars
- A HARD plastic frame
- Stretch. Limousine in length

As I look back at this design from ‘Back in the day’, I cracked a smile because this is the original Marshall Taylor Design that assisted in launching the vision. My designs now look nothing like this and as I told you when this blog 1st launched, I had to teach myself to sketch because I couldn't find a designer that could put my vision of design down on paper or IF I told them something that didn't make sense to them (because of preconceived notions of what a bicycle should look like) freaked out and started to let me know what I was saying didn't make sense to them!

I am telling yall this, I promise when you see my designs, you will say to yourself "This guy is delusional, but his designs sure are hot!"




You want to know my secret? Now, you poor designers that are stuck working for those GIANTS in the industry, although you may understand what I am about to tell you, it is to bad you are to scared to exercise these simple principles...


1) I never start my design process ASSUMING I know what a bicycle should look like.
2) My motto "Genius is the absence of reality".

If you think you know what it is supposed to look like before you begin, you are already STUCK in mediocrity people. Let me expand a bit on on absence of reality. There are some things that you just have to be gifted enough to do in order to achieve greatness. Those who tell you "Work hard at it and you will become great at it" are lying to you. Case in point, "Lebron James". Do any of you think that Lebron James works any harder on his game than the next NBA or College Player? Kobe Bryant? What about Wayne Gretzky? The answer to this is ABSOLUTELY NOT!
I am not saying that they do not work hard, only that working hard won't necessarily make you great absent the gifting you need to succeed!

I want to encourage all of you to look back into your own ‘Archives’ whatever form it is in (computer, scrapbooks, photo albums, memories) and remember when you believed anything was possible. I promise you that there is something there that will bring back a powerful memory…maybe not always good, but all of us had to endure something tough to get where we are. For me, it was simply struggling through to get this sketch completed. Oh yeh, I am posting this sketch realizing that it will make it ‘Public Domain’. The truth is, compared to what I am working on now, if you choose to use it, it will be comparable to those ugly cruisers that everyone is riding on now. Yes…yes…you know who you are! Enjoy

My, oh my... I recently received some comments about a few posts that I wrote over a year ago. The title of the post is ‘Slammin Cadillac Doors’. The comment said that they didn’t understand why I was so outraged by the way the manufacturer of the Cadillac Brand of bicycles was disrespecting the Cadillac brand. This particular manufacturer owns the license to produce these bicycles and if I remember right, this manufacturer’s core discipline isn’t even bicycles, BUT TOYS! Now, I am not saying that a toy manufacturer shouldn’t produce bicycles because truth be told, the Cadillac Bicycles aren’t any better or worse than the rest of the Cruisers I have seen out there. I will not rehash that post because I said what I said and I do believe when anyone repeats themselves for the sake of proving their argument. What they are really saying is they do not respect other’s right to disagree with them. Whether you repeat something 2 times or 10 times, a person has the right to disagree with your point of view. You can’t force anyone to accept your point of view, just press your case and leave it alone!

I posted ,many months back about a wood framed bicycle. That was then people...I will not tell you that I am fan of Road Bikes and I certainly could never bring myself to buy one because let's face it...that just 'Ain't my type of hype BABY!' However, there is a company called Renovo Bikes (http://www.renovobikes.com/) that caught my attention with their current line up of Road Bikes.
They use not just wood on their frames yall....they use LUXURY WOODS! In 2003 as some of you know, I helped launch a Jewelry Company called 'Banneker', named after Benjamin Banneker the 1st African-American Scientist and Inventor. What the CEO envisioned doing was laying down Luxury Woods in the dials of wrist watches, rings and jewelry. People laughed at him and even people that have launched and manage large jewelry companies laughed and said it couldn't be done. (I challenge any of you to find ANY wrist watch with any kind of wood in the face between the early 1970s and 2004). It got done and now everyone is doing it!
Renovo, has done this thing in bicycle design and their designs are nice (cluttered but nice). I guess they have to be cluttered because the folks who ride these machines need all of those gadgets....I guess. Road Bike Companies other than Renovo........know this.....As Felt Racing before them, Renovo receives my 2nd 'BOW DOWN' Award......which, for other Road Bike manufacturers means......BOW DOWN WHEN RENOVO COMES TO YOUR TOWN!

Story courtesy of http://www.statnekov.com/

In 1876, the high-wheel bicycle was brought to America and exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. A few of the British-made high-wheelers were imported, and within a short time people were riding them on the streets of Boston. At first, only the affluent could afford the expensive mechanical device, and they were considered a novelty rather than a practical means of transportation. Even when riders were proficient, the often muddy and deeply rutted dirt roads of the time made it a difficult challenge just to stay on board the precarious contrivance.


In the 1880's, however, bicycles with equal-sized wheels (called "safety" bicycles) were introduced, and quality machines became more affordable. The "safety" bicycle was not only safer, but easier to ride, and both men and women were drawn to the new invention. For the first time, large numbers of young people had the means to travel beyond their own neighborhoods. By the 1890's, the modern two-wheeler had had a profound effect on American society.


The industrialist?s success with the tandem inspired him to assemble a self-propelled vehicle that could be sold to the public. Beginning with tricycles and quadracycles, Metz eventually constructed a heavy-duty bicycle powered by a De Dion-Bouton engine manufactured in France. The motor-driven Orient was unwieldy, but by early 1900 several prototypes had been built and tested. On July 31, 1900, Metz showcased his invention at the Charles River Race Park in Boston.

Meanwhile the Waltham company decided to concentrate their efforts on producing a "horseless carriage," and in the Spring of 1902 Charles Metz left the firm to design and manufacture his own motorcycle. Metz?s friend and employee, Albert Champion, went on to develop an improved spark plug and founded the spark plug company that still bears his name.
The large bicycle manufacturers were not alone in the race to build and market a motor-powered two-wheeler. From a myriad of little workshops that dotted the American landscape other motorized bicycles emerged. The ingenious proprietor of one such shop in upstate New York was Glenn H. Curtiss. Curtiss had been educated in the public schools of his home town, and was notably modest, but from the very beginning his machines were exceptional.
In September of 1902, the 24 year-old Curtiss entered the record books for the first time when one of his machines made the fastest time at a Labor Day road race in New York. The following year, the engine builder (who was also a rider) won the first American hillclimb. Soon afterward, Curtiss startled observers in Providence, Rhode Island when he set a record for single cylinder machines by making a 1-mile run at 63.8 mph.

In 1904, Curtiss took one of his machines to Ormond Beach, Florida where he set a record for 10 miles on the hard-packed sand, and achieved a speed of 67.3 mph. The following year the innovative designer set yet another record by riding a twin cylinder Curtiss around the 1-mile dirt track at Syracuse in exactly 61 seconds.

Article courtesy of wikipedia.com

Isaac Burns Murphy (April 16, 1861 - February 12, 1896) was an African-American Hall of Fame jockey. The official Kentucky Derby website and the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame say that "Isaac Murphy is considered one of the greatest race riders in American history."


Between 1877 and 1876, Isaac Murphy competed in eleven Kentucky Derbys, becoming the first jockey to win three Derbys: "Buchanan" in 1884, "Riley" in 1890, and "Kingman" in 1891. "Kingman" was owned and trained by Dudley Allen and is the only horse owned by an African-American to win the Derby.


As well, he is the only jockey to have won the Kentucky Derby, the Kentucky Oaks, and the Clark Handicap all in the same year (1884). Considered one of the great jockeys in American history, Murphy was dubbed the "Colored Archer," a reference to Fred Archer, a prominent English jockey at the time.

Murphy won 628 of his 1,412 starts, a 44% victory rate that has never been equalled and a record about which Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Arcaro said: "There is no chance that his record of winning will ever be surpassed. [1] On its creation, Isaac Burns Murphy was the fhe first jockey to be inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Since 1995 the National Turf Writers Association has given the Isaac Murphy Award to the jockey with the highest winning percentage for a given year in North American racing, from a minimum of 500 mounts.

I am so remiss readers...Up to this point I have pointed out the accomplishments of Marshall Taylor, Wendell Scott, Debbie Thomas and others and I failed to mention those people, coached, trainers, teammates and others who believed in them enough to stake their reputations on the line by supporting these black athletes who were ground breakers in their respective sports. The first coach I will give tribute to is Marshall Taylor's coach and mentor...one Louis 'Birdie' Munger. Munger was the Lance Armstrong of his day in that he rode and raced the old English 'High Wheel Bicycles' long distances and was one of the few fellows to complete a cross country ride on a bicycle.