Video: One Man, Five Weird Bikes

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By Padraig 2

One of the delights in finding old Pathé videos is the bemused tone the narrator adopts in talking about the devices contained in the video. They aren’t above a little mockery, which may not be all that unreasonable when confronted with a device that’s more about “because I can” than, “this will be a better mousetrap.” Clearly, these weren’t better mousetraps, but boy am I glad they were caught on film.

Padraig

When playing drums in a rock and roll band didn't turn at to be as lucrative as he'd hoped, Padraig left his hometown of Memphis to pursue an MFA in poetry at UMASS Amherst. Writing about his other love, bicycles, seemed a natural progression; certainly it paid better than either poetry or rock music. His work has appeared everywhere from Bicycling Magazine to the LA Times. His feature, "My Day With Ilya," won a Lowell Thomas Award for travel writing. These days he lives in Sonoma County, California, where he attempts to inspire his two demitasse ninja with the wonder of bikes. Favorites: flavor: maple; wine: Boheme Pinot Noir; beer: Russian River Pliny the Elder; neurochemical: dopamine; poetry: Andrew Hudgins; fiction: Thomas Pynchon; music: David Sylvian; comedy: Firesign Theater; event: 8-Hours of Wente.

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  1. Dan Murphy says

    Is Pathe a thing?

    1. Tom Moughan says

      Yep! Google it. British Pathé was a huge producer of newsreel documentaries shown in movies theaters worldwide from 1910 to the 1970s.

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