Classic Bike Guide Magazine 335 March 2019 Back Issue

Adear departed relation once explained to me how people were different. “An angel will have a bucket with your name. It then goes along a line of drums, with each drum full of a different attribute.These drums are full of braun, brains, confidence, fitness, adaptability, reactions, thought, emotion
or empathy. Now, there are seasoned angels, who will take a scoop from each drum until the bucket is full: this leads to a balanced person. But if your bucket is filled by a young angel, or even a lazy angel, they may just get to one drum and fill your bucket completely with just one attribute.”

Tosh told to a naive young boy it may have been, but I love the thought. I’ve known some lovely brainiacs at Cambridge who could write mathematical equations on how belching after dinner could influence the clouds, yet couldn’t tie shoelaces, let alone drive a car: a young angel’s work. Equally, I know many people who have obviously benefited from that wise angel, and have the full quota of strengths.

I think my angel was lazy and my bucket was short-changed. But, living in the sticks and hanging around the world of old bikes, I’ve got to know a lot of wise people, who may be apprenticed-engineers with a life of experience, or may just be blessed, but whenever I spend time with them I learn something.These people had their bucket filled with the right stuff; they don’t see problems; they see what is broken, see what is around them, the tools they have and the time they’ve got, and fix it. I call it farm engineering.