We would like to introduce Cambridge to my grandfather, Ernest Esposito, pictured in our window with his trusty, 2 wheeled, steed outside his family clap-board house in Providence, Rhode Island circa 1920. A keen cyclist from an early age, he built his bike with a fixed wheel (ask any teenager what that is.. then show them this from almost a hundred years ago..) His brakes were a leather glove on the front wheel. He would have been aware of the Giro d`Italia and Le Tour de France, and had a successful local biking career until he pedaled over an open manhole cover during a race and broke his knee. His blue eyes have been passed down to his great grandchildren, along with an appreciation of two wheel pedal power.
We have adapted an American “Detour” road sign to point the way for any racers uncertain of the direction of Le Tour past our shop.
Regardez manhole covers in Cambridge, Le Tour racers.