Wright Cycle Company - Ramblings from the Road #2

After making great progress West and spending a night just outside Cleveland, OH, I decided today could have some sightseeing mixed in. I did indeed stop at the Air Force Museum. Was really glad I did, and know Pops would have dug it. After re-realizing that Columbus is arguably the birth place of aviation, I also re-realized, thanks to a sign, that the Wright Brothers had their shop just down the road! Hell yeah, I'm going there! With the Sprinter on fumes, I searched for some diesel along the 5 mile trip to the Wright Cycle Company. I made it (even without a fill-up) and am so, so glad I did! A small shop/store front on a residential street was home to some fine framebuilding. The Wright Bro's made their own milling machine/drill press, and also had a lathe and an assortment of hand tools. A pretty sweet shop stand complete w/ wooden clamp stood in the space as well. The Ranger shared with me that the Bros never took any pictures of the inside of the shop, so they did the best the could from some historic pictures of the building where they could see in the windows a bit. They actually had 4 other bike shops spread around, so the historical society created the workshop based on one of their other stores.

I stood on the same, original wood floor where Wilbur and Orville Wright hand crafted frames. Yeah, I got a few chills as the magnitude of my vision set in briefly. Somehow, I get the feeling they chose the life they wanted to live as well. Inspiring.

Here's to the Bros!