Italspark and I had the good fortune to meet Charlie Cunningham at home with his wife Jacquie Phelan. A more humble man you could not meet. He was one of the original mountain bike pioneers, he created some of the most innovative bicycles and parts of when the sport was in its infancy.
He and Jacquie live a very modest life in Fairfax almost at the bottom of the Repack descent. Until recently in a tree house.
Their lives have changed immeasurably since a bicycle accident.
An appeal has been established by his friends to help his recovery and his relocation and rehabilitation at home.
Any contribution would be welcome. Our sport would be a whole lot different without his contribution.
I see this is on the news page now.
Charlie is a legend, a genuine one off. Italspark and I got a very rare tour of his basement workshop. He was developing a new rim brake. It would be a limited run. If Charlie thought you were worthy he'd sell you one. Cracking business model.
Insurance for brush fires is so high in California he made a foam system that used water from the pond below his tree house.
It's devastating news to hear of his accident. Here's hoping for a sustained recovery.
He's irreplaceable.
Shit that's very poor news to hear….. 🙁 Jacquie mentioned charlie's crash to me but apart from breaking 7 bones (bad enough! 🙁 ) i thought he was on the road to recovery…. albeit very slowly. It was his birthday back in August so i made him a few bars of Madagascan dark chocolate from a rather exclusive cocoa crop whilst at work and sent them over to aid his convalescence (he's a dark choc junkie) along wi a box of my chocs to share amongst themselves.
According to Jacquie……. [i] charlie was OVERHYDRATED (look up hyponatremia) and under nourished--on a quick 30 min ride up and down the local hill--he fainted while cresting the hill, came to, dragged himself and brand new freshly built bike--oh, by the way, the bike is FINE--this is how we know he wasn't hit by a car--not a scratch on his bike--and then hitched a ride for self and bike,
called up hospital, and waited at home for a ride. [/i]
That's not the news i was wanting to hear bout' charlie, i was expecting to hear he was back on a bike by now - there's no question about contributing to help him out - I'd say it was a pleasure to help out but "pleasure" is entirely the wrong word - if it wasn't for the "charlies" of this world the bikes we love to ride would today be very different.
Healing vibes as well…
Oh…and the new bike he built looked very fine indeed, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if i posted a pic of it.
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In true STW fashion i'd say the garden needs weeding…... 😉
Donated, we cunninghams should stick together.
Shocking valve positioning too!
And he forgot the rules regarding big ring at the front/rear mech arm should be pointing at 6 o'clock position. 😀
More detail here.
http://www.bicycling.com/culture/people/injured-mountain-bike-hall-famer-needs-your-help
Jacquie is always on the ball. The pair of them are legends.
And his medical fund is now almost at $39,000 - good stuff from all involved and those who have contributed so far.
Keep the money rolling in peeps….
A proper eccentric and a gentleman by all accounts.
A friend of mine visited his workshop and said it was fascinating. The world would be a boring place without the likes of Charlie and Jackie.
[url= https://www.gofundme.com/w85tn3dg?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&utm_content=cta_button&utm_campaign=upd_n ]An update on Charlies recovery so far[/url],
Horrible news! Also had the pleasure of visiting Charlie and Jacquie a few years back. It's hard to overstate the impact Charlie had on the mountain (and indeed road) bikes we ride today. A true visionary.
Kenny, drop me a line, would be great to hear from you!
Had Jacquie over for dinner last week. My wife works directing visiting nurses, which is something Charlie will need, so she was able to make suggestions for Jacquie regarding his home care.
Mutual friend visited Charlie a few days ago, said he had a long conversation. That represents considerable improvement over the state I saw him in a couple of weeks earlier, so progress is steady.