Ibisians Interviewing other Ibisians Part IV
Tom Interviews Scot

Q. Who are you really, Scot or Chuck?
A. Can’t I be both? I mean, in these days of rampant identity theft, shouldn’t you have a backup? “Multiple personality disorder (MPD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by having at least one "alter" personality that controls behavior. The "alters" are said to occur spontaneously and involuntarily, and function more or less independently of each other. The unity of consciousness, by which we identify our selves, is said to be absent in MPD. Another symptom of MPD is significant amnesia which can't be explained by ordinary forgetfulness.” What were we talking about?

Q. Were you the class clown in high school?
A. More of a nimrod geek loser who rode his bike everywhere. Hasn’t changed much.

Q. How did you learn to build frames?
A. I was lucky enough to apprentice with both Joe Breeze and Charlie Cunningham in 1980.

Q. Coolest bike ride you ever did?
A. The one I did yesterday? And the day before? I’m in Sun Valley as I answer these questions, and the single track here is hard to beat. One very memorable ride was up L’Alpe d’Huez an hour before the tour came through. This was in 1987 when Federico Echave won the stage and Stephen Roche won the Giro/Tour double (not to mention the road worlds that year).

Q. Worst bike ride you ever did?
A. I don’t know if it’s the worst, but one very memorable ride was in Death Valley. “It gets more rideable up here a bit” was a refrain I heard too many times that day.

Q. Most exciting aspect of this Ibis thing?
A. No more paying retail for bike parts!

Q. Any prior career?
A. Not that I can discuss without impunity.

Q. Where were you born?
A. Being a lifelong Californian (conceived here), this is tough for me. New Jersey. Saw 38 states by the time I was 6 months old, as my folks drove me back to California. Dad was doing a stint in the Army. Slept through the races at Sebring and Daytona.

Q. Siblings?
A. Three younger smarter richer more professional shorter fatter brothers. One has a job, one has kids and the other has kids and a job. None of us have middle initials, let alone middle names. We were poor. Couldn’t afford them.

Q. Do your parents approve of what you’re doing?
A. They approve of what I tell them I’m doing.

Q. How did you get into riding bikes?
A. Being an obnoxious oldest child, the five other people in my family wanted me out of the house. The cheapest way was to teach me how to ride a bike, but not how to turn around. Our block was very large, so I’d be gone for long periods at a time.

Q. Furthest you ever flew to ride a bike?
A. Prolly Borneo. No, actually it was Australia. Back in the day before non-stops. We had to stop in Hawaii and Samoa for fuel. Head the option of a layover. Everyone told me to hang out in Hawaii not Samoa because there was nothing to do there. So I hung out in Samoa and had a fantastic time. Spent four months in Australia and New Zealand.

Q. Wife, Kids, Pets, Cars, Airplanes?
A. Super badass girlfriend who has the skills to pay the bills. All the good toys are hers.

Q. Fastest you ever went on a bike?
A. Panther Gap, Tour of the Unknown Coast, Ibis Uptube Tandem #1, Greg Lewis on the back, 67MPH. Had a blowout two miles down the road while going much slower.

Q. Hobbies?
A. Riding my bike a lot, so I can eat a lot.

Q. What music do you like?
A. There are 90 gigs of music on my hard drive, and I haven’t ripped my cd’s yet. You’ll find Ass Ponys and Zappa on the fringes and Miles and Mozart smack dab in the middle.

Q. As a point of proper wine etiquette, which part of the box are used supposed to smell?
A. That is a funny question, funnier than any answer I can think of now.

Q. Do you ever get in trouble for smiling all the time?
A. The vice-principal and I were on a first name basis in high school.

Q. You’re closely associated with the birth of bicycle trials in this country so hopefully you can answer this question. In their prime, who – in your opinion – had a better mullet Hans Rey or Dave Arbogast?
A. This is one of those gimme questions they have on the SAT’s. Arbogast unquestionably. First, Hans is European, so he has a valid excuse. It’s a little known fact, but MC Hammer wrote “you can’t touch this” after seeing people try to emulate Dave’s mullet, all of them failing miserably.

Q. Rightly or wrongly, you’re also credited with the invention of the mountain bike, suspension forks and – in fact – the wheel itself. How did the advent of the industrial revolution in 19th century Great Britain give rise to pot smokin’ hippies riding cruiser bikes off road in the 70’s?
A. Another gimme question on the SAT’s. Oops, out of time.