Flying G

After six months of searching, I’m happy to report that Michael Johnson has been found and he is alive and well! I had lunch with him yesterday and he immediately recognized the bike as one that he had built in 1979 – 1980. Congrats to Doug Fattic and others on this thread that correctly recognized the design characteristics indicating that Michael had been a student of the legendary Albert Eisentraut on his way to building over 300 frames as a younger lad in the 1970s and early 1980s. After building these frames for a number of shops including the Cupertino Bike Shop (owned by Spence Wolf), he moved on to other occupations while adding more skills, experience, tools and machines as a metal fabricator.

It was a pleasure to meet him and to share his enthusiasm in re-connecting with one of only a dozen known MJ bikes in Northern CA. He was thrilled to learn of this thread and appreciative of the comments and insights shared by all. I don’t want to provide too much information about him in the hopes that he’ll also provide an update after mine. He remains an avid cyclist and sailor and is excited to join us old vintage types at the next Eroica CA in Cambria next April.

The twisted trail to locate Michael involved many, many internet searches over the past six months with all of them becoming “dry holes.” My biggest fear was that Michael had relocated to some other part of the world or worse yet, was no longer upright in the saddle. Eventually, someone mentioned Steve Rex was a student of Michael Johnson which later proved to be incorrect. However, in a phone conversation, Steve Rex said that he frequently saw Michael at the annual Party Pardee event sponsored by the Sacramento Bike Hikers every spring. Bingo! After several phone calls to POCs within the Sac Bike Hikers, I received Michael’s cell number and reached out to him to find out if indeed he is “the guy.” Fortunately, he is and we were able meet over lunch to discuss the bike, his career and passions, and the wonders and beauty of steel road bikes!

This has been a really interesting journey since acquiring the “mystery bike.” The ownership trail probably won’t be uncovered but now I know the builder and understand that Campy NR and Unicantor are the most likely original components on this really nice bicycle. Seeing Michael re-connect with an old friend was absolutely worth the time and effort.

I wish that I had learned about BikeForum.com 15 years ago. What a boon to find others that share the passion for vintage steel bikes. After learning about this group and forum, I remain hopeful that Michael joins our threaded discussions and reconnects with others in this great community!