Mike Wolfe on his Obsession with Bikes

The American Picker Dream, Part I: Mike Wolfe On His Love Affair With Vintage Bikes

By Ben Marks

As co-host of History Channel’s “American Pickers” and the operator of Antique Archaeology, Mike Wolfe is known to millions of TV viewers as the guy who digs crazy treasures out of barns, sheds, and basements. But he’s always been a vintage bicycle guy at heart—that’s what got him started ‘picking’ at age six. In this first of several interviews, we spoke with Mike about his bike racing days, his current collection of bicycles, and that fateful day in the ’70s when he got hooked by a bunch of banana-seats.

I was walking to school one day and saw all these bikes in the garbage. I was just amazed because I didn’t have one and I found it incredible that anyone was throwing them out. So I gathered up as many as I could and put them all in our garage. They were mostly banana-seat bikes from the ’60s, maybe one was a Schwinn. There was a girl’s balloon-tire bike, too. That was the first bike I learned to ride because there was no bar in the middle—I was little, so I would ride it almost right above the cranks.


http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-american-picker-dream-part-i-mike-wolfe-on-his-love-affair-with-vintage-bikes/

Where'd she go?

Fall is the busiest time of my work year, as I've mentioned, and I'd not posted much this fall because of the limits in my time.  Once things started to lighten up I somehow landed with a pinched nerve in my shoulder a few weeks ago.  Who knows how?  Probably lifted my coffee cup wrong or something.  Anyway, it gets quite aggravated by long periods at the computer and riding my bike.  Since I'd rather ride my bike every day rather than write about riding my bike, I've opted to only be at the computer for work and not at all other times. 

So, aside from work and messing up my shoulder, I've not been up to much of anything...except putting the Christmas lights on my bike.  I realize that this post is completely worthless without pictures so I'll take some just as soon as possible.  This is my third year with the lights and  I absolutely LOVE the reactions I get.  People roll down their windows at stop lights/signs to comment and wish me Merry Christmas.  I get lots of thumbs up and nearly every single person I encounter smiles big and wide. 

Until this shoulder thing heals I'll still be pretty much absent.  Here's wishing you all a wonderful holiday season!!