Random Musings of a Technohippy

As a great man once said, “I have a dream”. It’s a fairly simple dream, but it’s one that has set the direction for my life over recent years. It’s caused me to change many things about how I live and to make decisions that perhaps could have been better made in other ways.

My dream is to own my own house, somewhere in the mountains and to live a life the way I wish to, unencumbered by debt or mortgage, doing a job I enjoy and with the time and money to travel and do other things, such as voluntary work, when I choose to do so.

Sounds simple doesn’t it. It’s not.

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Another of the people I looked up to passed away and I didn’t find out until a couple of weeks ago.

Sheldon Brown.

I’ve been wandering through Sheldon’s web sites since about ‘98, I swapped some emails with him when I was living in the US, and had planned to visit and meet him at the shop he managed in New England when we were going to go on a bike tour up there which we didn’t get time to do. I took part in several of the forums he was an active member of for several years, particularly while training up for the big triathlons

I can’t even find words to describe this wonderful, gentle and incredibly generous man, who was one of the world’s authorities on all things bicycle related. His personal, bicycle and business sites are one of the largest repositories of all things bicycle related. That he spent years putting this on-line for free, would answer any email or phone call and offer the benefit of his many years experience to anyone who asked was a reflection of his kindness and generosity.

After a couple of years away from bicycle communities I’m saddened not to have heard about this earlier but much more saddened that such a delightful man is no longer with us. Most of what I know about the technical side of cycling I learned on his sites and it made me a better, faster, safer and more knowledgeable rider.

RIP Sheldon, you’ll be greatly missed.