Story by June J. Siple
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story by june j. siple 26 ADVENTURE CYCLIST JUNE 2018 It was 1972, and our bicycle expedition, Hemistour, was in trouble. Ironically, what we lacked were bicycles. After Valley (TOSRV West) in 1971, the Braxtons helped about 18 months of plotting our adventure from out. Local bike purchases had already been growing Alaska to Argentina, we had exhausted leads for several years. in England, the U.S., Japan, and Canada for Greg and I hitchhiked to Missoula in early May manufacturers to donate bikes. Most likely we would to help launch Hemistour and soon went to meet the end up using our regular road bikes made in different Braxtons. But an immediate problem stopped us in countries, and on lightweight 27 x 1.25in. wheels. our tracks — Sam hadn’t realized he was supposed More than 1,500 miles of gravel awaited us in Alaska to build up bikes for Greg and me in addition to the and Canada. Worry, worry. Burdens and was quite irritated with this new reality. Earlier that year, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Being a tad mercurial in temperament and obviously my husband Greg and I were working to put the a craftsman with pride to boot, he might have refused expedition together with partners Dan and Lys us. But he quickly relented. Burden who had moved from Ohio to Missoula, We had asked for racing frames with high-quality, Montana, to attend college. durable components (Campagnolo wherever possible), In a letter dated March 14, Dan wrote to say gearing as low as possible, padded handlebars, and that a Missoula bike mechanic “is willing to build custom-built wheels for 26 x 1 3/8in. tires. Because of our bikes for us.” He was working for the railroad the worldwide distribution of British three-speed bikes full time and had been repairing bikes part time over the decades, such tires were available everywhere. out of his house since 1970. Greg and I looked at Originally skeptical about the smaller, heavier each other and burst out laughing! In a podunk wheels, Sam built himself a pair and hit the trail. That backwoods town called “Missoula,” whatever completely sold him on the idea. We had requested that meant, with a population just under 30,000, 650B wheels. Lucky for us, all three Braxton men an ambitious and probably undertrained bike were crackerjack wheelbuilders, and they put us on mechanic wanted to take us on. It seemed absurd. the correct rims for those tires, known as E.A.3 or But we were up against a two-month departure 650A. We left for Alaska with three new “custom- deadline. So, at the Burdens’ urging, we took on the assembled” Gitane Super-Corsa bikes and my used little shop and hoped for the best. It would turn out Peugeot PX-10 — all French racing frames adapted for to be the best decision made by our core group. expedition touring. Sam Braxton, our new mechanic, was working for “His standard procedure was to strip the frame Burlington Northern Railroad (BN) as a switchman of all of the components, tap and face all threads in the Missoula yard. “In his spare time on the job, (headset, bottom bracket), align the dropouts, etc., he cruised through lots of bicycle catalogs, manuals, then reassemble the bikes with fresh bearings and specs, and diagrams for his bike shop,” said 73-year- new grease, and often better components,” said former old Wayne Vandeberg, a Braxton family friend, former Braxton mechanic (1984–1989) and Wayne Vandeberg’s BN employee, and active cyclist. “You could see his son Derek at classicrendezvous.com. The Braxtons had head was in other places. Everything he was doing taken identical pains with the Hemistour bikes. was about bikes.” When Sam and Shirley “Shirl” Braxton, and their two sons Bart and Dalt, opened the Braxton Bike Sam, a man’s man from Raleigh, North Carolina, Shop at 2100 South Avenue West, few cyclists had moved west to Seattle to attend the University of were roaming around Montana. Touring hadn’t Washington and to pursue an adventurous life. He had yet caught on, and nobody rode on dirt already served in the Navy in the South Pacific during — “heaven forbid” being the prevailing World War II. Shirley, nicknamed “Shirl” because of attitude. But the Braxton star was on the rise. multiple Shirley Temple namesakes in her school, When the Burdens began to promote bicycling hailed from Winnipeg, Canada (see more about Shirl in Missoula with the first Tour of the Swan River on page 51). Her family had emigrated to Seattle. ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 27 COURTESY OF JUNE AND GREG SIPLE Braxton Bike Shop earned a stellar reputation for handbuilt wheels, with sons Bart and Dalt as primary wheelbuilders. But Sam was no slouch in that regard, shown here probably checking for true. Smitten by the vivacious, red-haired Shirl during a A valuable asset to the bike shop, Shirl kept the shop Mountaineers Club climbing trip near Seattle, Sam was books, handled publicity, balanced the budget, tried to stunned that any woman would consider hiking in the woods, hold Sam back from ordering too many parts at once (a let alone swing an ice axe up a mountain. She was a feminine fruitless venture for the most part), paid the bills, and did rarity in the late 1940s — a skilled canoeist, climber, and the taxes. She also ran the shop’s annual “Cycle-Off” spring hiker. Already engaged to a rather predictable man, she fell in sale, baked cookies tirelessly, and kept the coffee pot going love with Sam and her engagement collapsed. to tempt customers through the door. She taught piano for All-around outdoorspeople, the Braxtons moved to Missoula more than 25 years in their living room. Unbeknownst to in 1951 after their two-week honeymoon trip canoeing in the most who came to know her in Missoula, Shirl had been Boundary Waters. To Shirl’s great surprise, right after the valedictorian of her high school class, although she was canoe trip, she learned she was expecting. Their first son Bart always coy about her intelligence. was born in Missoula in 1952, and in 1953 their second son Dalt An explosion and fire in 1973 ravaged the house and arrived. Despite having a Wildlife Tech degree, Sam took a job destroyed the shop. “We lost everything except what was with the railroad in 1953 to better support his family. in the garage,” Shirl said. She ended up in the hospital 28 ADVENTURE CYCLIST JUNE 2018 The Braxton shop was probably the most renowned bike shop on the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail during the summer of ’76. for weeks with extensive burns use for TransAmerica Bicycle to her face and hands. Missoula Trail route research in 1975. rallied to help the Braxtons. Sam and Shirl enjoyed Three weeks after the fire, friendships and business they bought the house next relationships with Spence Wolf door to live in and temporarily of Cupertino Bike Shop, and Phil moved the bike shop into the Wood, both in California, as well undamaged garage. They then as the Jackson framebuilding converted the wreckage of their family in England. All were old house into a much bigger important influences on the bike shop, a process that took Braxton shop. “Spence Wolf was more than a year. like a god to us,” recalled Bart, who On an even keel once again, bicycled to California one summer Sam had much more going on to visit the shop, and added, “Dad in his head than just running a was close to Phil Wood.” bike shop and keeping up with By the Bikecentennial summer his railroading job. He took of 1976, the family was all hands Albert Eisentraut’s two-week on deck as organized groups framebuilding course in Oakland, flowed through town. The shop California, in 1974, “but he said offered airport pickup of bike he didn’t get much out of it,” and rider, assembly of shipped according to an August 1987 bikes, and even rider rescues article in the weekly Missoula when debilitating breakdowns Today. MIT students, intent on took place. Many’s the group computer technology design, the shop serviced as riders with attended the same course, but compromised bikes limped into Sam was more hands-on and town. The Braxtons attended didn’t find that approach useful. to broken and fraying cables, “Skip the foolishness and get to chronic flats, broken spokes, work,” he said about the course in snapped luggage racks, brake the same article. His dream was noise, grinding gears, clicking to buy up the block adjacent to the pedals, misbehaving headsets, bike shop to build a family-based and grinding bottom brackets. DAN BURDENDAN bicycle manufacturing plant, They padded handlebars to according to Bart. His first official alleviate sore hands, made Sam Braxton in 1974 on the Tour of the Swan River Valley, Braxton frame, serial number adjustments in rider position a two-day, 200-plus–mile ride. Although abrasive with 0001, was built for John Briggs’s to soothe sore knees, and customers in the shop, he was a happy man abike. DISc MIXTE cAN TOUR! THE BUENA VISTA Disc: Sport touring frame set with classic looks and advantageous standover height. Build it up to carry panniers and sleeping bags -- or puppies and sunflowers. It’s all good. Steel frames for commuting, centuries, singletrack and adventure. www.somafab.com ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 29 Braxton serial numbers are gave advice on where to camp — including in on the road the next morning. A hard worker, typically on the the Braxton’s own backyard.