Every community needs to memorialize its heroes, advocates, champions and friends. In that way, we in the cycling community are no different.
We're not (at least here in the US) yet at the point of having monuments, buildings, streets, plazas or even corners named after bicycling advocates. But we may be moving in that direction, if in small ways and a few locations.
One of those locales is San Antonio--specifically, the University of Texas campus in that city. There, an old information booth has been turned into the Tito Bradshaw Bicycle Repair Shop.
Now, the fact that a campus structure has been re-purposed as a bicycle repair shop shows us that the bicycling community has some sort of presence at the school. Just as important, the fact that it's been named after Tito Bradshaw means that at least some people within that community--and at least a few outside it--know about his work as an activist and the owner of Bottom Bracket Bicycle Shop.
Plans to convert the booth into a repair shop were already in the works when, in May, he was struck and killed by an intoxicated driver while riding his bicycle. He was only 35 years old. Now, we can hope, his work and community spirit will continue--and expand.
We're not (at least here in the US) yet at the point of having monuments, buildings, streets, plazas or even corners named after bicycling advocates. But we may be moving in that direction, if in small ways and a few locations.
One of those locales is San Antonio--specifically, the University of Texas campus in that city. There, an old information booth has been turned into the Tito Bradshaw Bicycle Repair Shop.
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| Tito Bradshaw/. Photo by Scott Ball. |
Now, the fact that a campus structure has been re-purposed as a bicycle repair shop shows us that the bicycling community has some sort of presence at the school. Just as important, the fact that it's been named after Tito Bradshaw means that at least some people within that community--and at least a few outside it--know about his work as an activist and the owner of Bottom Bracket Bicycle Shop.
Plans to convert the booth into a repair shop were already in the works when, in May, he was struck and killed by an intoxicated driver while riding his bicycle. He was only 35 years old. Now, we can hope, his work and community spirit will continue--and expand.
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| Cyclists on bridge memorialize Tito Bradshaw. Photo by Bonnie Arbitter. |
