I’m excited, excited by the fact that I’ve bought a 40 year old bike for £75. In fact it’s not one bike, it’s actually nearly two bikes. On Sunday morning I drove down to Heathrow, near London and met Jim who I’d messaged a few weeks before, back in March. He had posted on Facebook that he had a few bikes to sell. What I ended up with wasn’t what I was originally after, but none the less I’m happy.
Earlier in the year I travelled to Dudley just to the west of Birmingham. Famous as the capital of the Black Country, one of the birthplaces of the industrial revolution, it seemed fitting that I picked up an early mountain bike made some time in 1984/5, but not in the UK, in Japan. Colin from Dudley, who I purchased the bike from, was somewhat bemused when I told him of the adventure the bike was destined for. I’m not sure he was expecting someone like me to turn up with a crazy story about bike adventures and buy his bike.
What I now have are four wheels, three frames, various other bits. The majority all come from early Muddy Fox bicycles. In the early 1980s Muddy Fox saw a gap in the UK market and started selling bikes imported from Japan under the S&G brand, before forming Muddy Fox. They went on to dominate the mass market in the UK. Some of the rest of the bits are from an early Saracen bicycle. Saracen, a company created in 1983, in the dawn of UK mountain biking. The fledgling company supplied the two bikes that Nick and Richard Craine carried to the summit of Kilimanjaro, setting the record for the highest bike ride at the time. We were friends with Richard and he helped us a lot with information and knowledge ahead and after we returned from our trip to Nepal and India in 1986.
With the melange of ancient mountain bike parts, I will form a single bicycle. One that’s predominately Muddy Fox from the 1984/85 era. The Frankenstein of bikes if you like. One that I am planning on taking to India in 2026.
In 1986, I left India with unfinished business. Having taken my Muddy Fox bicycle to Everest base camp, and ridden across the top of India, North and West, towards Leh in Ladakh. My journey was cut short by the winter snows that closed the high passes through the Himalayas and at the time it was not possible for me to reach Leh.
I’m not 100% sure how things will pan out. The goal is to travel to India in August 2026 and from there reach Leh and at some point cycle up to 5,799M and cross Umling La, the world’s highest paved road pass.
While I may not have finished my Himalayan journey on my original bike, I’m now hoping to finish, on my new best friend and bicycle – frankenbike. What could possibly go wrong? A £75 monster bike let loose amongst highest mountains in the world.
I know this is a wild story and It’s definitely not one that Jim, Colin or anyone selling a bicycle expects to hear. I’m also sure it’s not one Mary Shelly expected as an addendum to her story written in 1818. What ever it is, it’s starting to gain legs and arms.
Long live adventure!