Tony and I first met via a letter he wrote to the BMW Motorcycle Owner's of America magazine in 1990. He and Shirely had shipped their BMW R80RT to the states a few years before and had a wonderful adventure from Toronto, Canada to the west coast of the states. They longed to repeat the adventure, but were looking for a way to reduce the financial investment of shipping their bike. Tony suggested the idea of a bike exchange. He told me his phone started ringing and letters began to arrive. He even had a person call from the airport in London informing Tony he was here and ready to borrow his bike.

I had written Tony as my wife and I were planning a trip over to England and Holland in a few months. We decided to meet up. Looking back, Tony and I laughed at how nervous we were about our first meeting. However, after a nice visit in their garden in Leicester we decided we should give it a try.

The next May, I was back at Tony's getting checked out on the bike, maps of Scotland and places to see along the way. Tony and Shirley came to the states the following year to ride my bike to Memphis, across Tennessee, up the Blue Ridge Parkway and back to Cincinnati. I met up with Tony and Shirley on the Blue Ridge Parkway. After a dinner at the Mt. Pisgah Inn on the BRP we chatted about putting an organization together to help other riders enjoy the same experience. Trans-Atlantic BikeShare was born.

A Little bit about Tony...

When I read Tony's letter in the BMW ON it was signed, Major Anthony Wood. Tony was active in the military throughout his life. As a result of his military service Tony began working and developing a program for troubled Youth. In this program, at risk youth were identified by local schools. These youth would then be accepted into a program coordinated by Tony and administered throughout England, Wales and Scotland by military personnel. The youth would be put through the rigors of military team building exercises and work on their self-esteem. Tony felt, as many did, that many of the at risk youth needed someone to show them there is another way and that they were important too. Of all of Tony's professional accomplishments, I think he felt this was his most important work.

Tony also worked as a local magistrate where he felt he could also help out the youth in his area. He and Shirely were fairly well traveled in their own right. They completed a number of Bikeshares and traveled whenever they found the time in their busy schedules.

When I think about Tony, I think of Tony sitting in the garden with Shirley and their dog Sebastian. We spent much time in this setting when I was able to visit talking about his family, our children and how, regardless of where you are from, the common challenges and responsibilites everyday we all shared.

I always looked forward to my visits with Tony and Shirley. Often I was tempted to just stay with Tony and Shirley instead of riding the motorcycle. It was obvious to everyone, they were everything to each other and they were good together.

During my last visit with Tony in the garden in Yorkshire, I was reminded even more why BikeShare has grown as it has. The BikeShare idea might have started out as a way to save some money. While sitting with Tony and Shirely during my last visit I was reminded of the true value of a friend I met through a BikeShare. Priceless......