Metz Bicycle useum hosts international conference

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Cycling enthusiasts rolling into town

Bicycle built for two: an 1885 High Wheel Tandem Tricycle (Image from http://www.metzbicyclemuseum.com)

Freehold will play host to cycling historians from around the world later this month, when the 20th International Cycling History Conference kicks off July 30.

"We were thrilled (at the news). My father was very honored, " said Larry Metz, whose father David owns the Metz Bicycle Museum at 54 W. Main Street.

Early arrivals can register July 29, but the conference does not officially begin until the next day. Roughly 80 people are expected to attend the 3-day conference, which is being hosted by the museum. Approximately 30 papers on various aspects of bicycle history will be presented, Larry Metz said.

There will be a special focus on the world-famous Arthur Zimmerman, a bicycle racing superstar in the late 19th century. Zimmerman ran a factory in Freehold, where he manufactured several models of his bicycle the "Zimmy." Visitors will have a chance to see one of the bikes at Metz's museum.

There will also be a bus tour to Smithville, home of the Star bicycle, on Aug. 1 and a bicycle tour around Manhattan on Aug. 2.

Freehold may seem like an unusual choice for a conference that has previously been held in big cities like Vienna, Osaka and Glasgow. But David Metz is a recognized bicycle expert, whose museum attracts visitors from around the world, Larry Metz said.

"They (organizers) actually came to us," said Larry Metz.

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Jul 9, 2009 4:50:02 GMT -5 admin said:

Cycling enthusiasts rolling into town

Bicycle built for two: an 1885 High Wheel Tandem Tricycle (Image from http://www.metzbicyclemuseum.com)

Freehold will play host to cycling historians from around the world later this month, when the 20th International Cycling History Conference kicks off July 30.

"We were thrilled (at the news). My father was very honored, " said Larry Metz, whose father David owns the Metz Bicycle Museum at 54 W. Main Street.

Early arrivals can register July 29, but the conference does not officially begin until the next day. Roughly 80 people are expected to attend the 3-day conference, which is being hosted by the museum. Approximately 30 papers on various aspects of bicycle history will be presented, Larry Metz said.

There will be a special focus on the world-famous Arthur Zimmerman, a bicycle racing superstar in the late 19th century. Zimmerman ran a factory in Freehold, where he manufactured several models of his bicycle the "Zimmy." Visitors will have a chance to see one of the bikes at Metz's museum.

There will also be a bus tour to Smithville, home of the Star bicycle, on Aug. 1 and a bicycle tour around Manhattan on Aug. 2.

Freehold may seem like an unusual choice for a conference that has previously been held in big cities like Vienna, Osaka and Glasgow. But David Metz is a recognized bicycle expert, whose museum attracts visitors from around the world, Larry Metz said.

"They (organizers) actually came to us," said Larry Metz.

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It is amazing that this musem and gem of the borough attracts people from all over the world, yet, many borough residents have not taken the time to visit.

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www.app.com/article/20090730/NEWS/907300356/1285/LOCAL09/Freehold+museum+home+to+international+cycling+conference+

Freehold museum home to international cycling conference
By Kim Predham • FREEHOLD BUREAU • July 30, 2009


FREEHOLD — Cycling enthusiasts, historians and collectors from around the world have come to Freehold this week to share ideas, talk shop and just enjoy the company of those who love bicycles as much as they do.



"It's nice to see my bike dork friends," said Curtis Anthony, a Philadelphia-based bike shop owner and collector


"It's nice to see my bike dork friends," said Curtis Anthony, a Philadelphia-based bike shop owner and collector.

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Metz Bicycle Museum

Anthony is one of more than 80 participants at the 20th International Cycling History Conference, a three-day event that has brought people from 14 states and seven countries to downtown Freehold.

But wait — Freehold? What could bring people from as far off as Australia and South Africa to this tiny Shore town?

The answer: David Metz and his world-renowned Metz Bicycle Museum.

"Everybody likes and respects David so much," said Anthony, 50.

Metz, 93, began collecting antique bicycles in 1953. He now has a "very complete" collection of bicycles that spans the machine's history, conference organizer Gary Sanderson said.

Metz has also been active in the world of antique bicycles and cycling history. He is a past national commander for the Wheelmen, a nonprofit dedicated to keeping the heritage of American cycling alive, promoting the restoration and riding of cycles dating from 1918 and earlier, and encouraging cycling as part of modern living. Metz has also been a state captain for the organization, Sanderson said.

For organizers, then — who have previously held conferences in Vienna, Osaka and Boston — Sanderson said the Metz Bicycle Museum was a natural site for this year's event.

"It's a real honor," said Metz.

This year's conference officially began Thursday and ends Saturday. Forty oral papers will be presented during this time, in addition to the eight visual presentations shown Thursday. Some of the topics being discussed are womens' role in cycling, the Rover bicycle and historically-important cyclists like Arthur Augustus Zimmerman.

Zimmerman, who competed during the 1880s and 1890s, was the world's first bicycle racing champion. Throughout his racing career he called Freehold home, and ran a bicycle manufacturing company in the borough from 1896 to 1899, Sanderson said.




On display at the museum Thursday was Metz's own "Zimmy," as Zimmerman's bicycles were known.



The conference will be followed by an optional bus tour to the Historic Smithville Park, home of the Star high-wheeled bicycle, and a bicycle ride around New York City.



After listening to several presentations of oral papers Thursday, conference participants relaxed by touring Metz's wonderfully eclectic museum.

A warehouse space off McLean Street, Metz has filled his museum with his many passions: antique bicycles, mousetraps, vintage kitchen gadgets, old lanterns, Amish door knockers, pencil sharpeners, even bottle cap openers with likenesses of a bear and Abraham Lincoln, among others.

Metz owns a replica of the German Baron Karl von Draise's 1817 bicycle, which some credit as the first bicycle invented. He has one of the only two quadracycle tandems left in the world, many of the once-popular high-wheel bicycles, and a 1894 lamplighter bicycle with an 8-foot-high wheel, which was used to light gas lamps in New York City. He has a bicycle with working boots arrayed around the rear wheel. He has antique childrens' bicycles, wooden bicycles and a bicycle with square wheels.

"Some of the bikes here are really very rare," said Charlie Farren, who came from Australia with her husband Paul for the conference.

Once a collector of coins and stamps, Metz — a farmer turned businessman — said he found greater joy acquiring mechanical objects like his bicycles and his mousetraps.

"With mechanical things, there's movement, there's change," said Metz.




Kim Predham: 732-308-7752 or [e-mail]