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Classic Schwinn is Boise Mayor's Favorite Vehicle - [Schwinn] Boise, Idaho -- July 19, 2006 -- Bieter's Bike Courtesy of Paul Fredericks of Boise?s KBCI-TV, CBS-2 Maybe we all would look forward to going to work if we could kick start our day this way. I'm talking about the way Boise Mayor Dave Bieter gets to work, He uses a classic vehicle. Is it a '65 Mustang? Or a '57 Chevy? Nope. It's a '69 Typhoon. "It's pretty cool that it's still running," the mayor says. There's not exactly a wave of Typhoons still on the road. "It actually does pretty well." If you're struggling to picture what a Typhoon looks like, it's not made by any of the major auto makers. A Typhoon was a bicycle made by Schwinn. "It's good for cruisin' around and.. it makes it pretty fun." Bieter's bike may be decades old, but it's still oh so special to the mayor. "Well, this was actually my very first bike," Bieter says. "I got this when I was 10-years-old for my 10th birthday." That's right. The bike he still rides today is also his very first bike. "It fell into disrepair some years back," he says. "But, my cousin, Tim Donahue, is pretty much a whiz with a bike, and he got it running again. And that's been - geez - 10 or 15 years ago now. Besides some flat tires and other than that it's running well." Okay -- the bike's paint job has faded a bit. But, the mayor's memories of his bike are still as clear today as they were in '69. "I mean most people were riding Stingrays, and this could beat a Stingray hands down. I could beat about anything around at the time." Today, Bieter has the bike seat raised up as high as it can go. "Plus, it's just practical. It's pretty good just around town." But, he says he wouldn't want to whistle on his way to work any other way than two-wheeling on his Schwinn (By the way, he really did whistle, hum & sing while riding his bike on the day we joined him). "I think there's more steel in this bike then there is in most cars now," Bieter says. The mayor says he occasionally he gets offers from people to buy his '69 Typhoon. But, he says the bike is not for sale. "I guess if you hold something long enough, it comes back into style because younger kids will stop me and yell out 'Nice bike." Now, the mayor hopes more people will turn toward alternative forms of getting around. "Even small percentages would be a big help. In terms of air quality and even traffic as well. So, Boise is known as a good biking town And I think that's becoming even more true. And, I think whatever we can do to encourage that we sure ought to." Whether or not others will sing the same tune remains to be seen. But, you can bet Bieter's vintage bike will bring the mayor more happiness for years to come. "And it really just reminds you of a lot of good things." << Back to List Back to Top |
