At 81, the ‘Bike Man’ keeps rolling along

LYNDONVILLE, Vt. (InvestigateTV) - In Lyndonville, Vermont, Gordon Thresher is known as “The Bike Man.”

“I strip bicycles to fix bicycles,” Thresher said.

Down in the basement is where Thresher spends much of the winter, fixing up donated bikes.

“Even have some of them delivered to me. They want them out of their yards, usually a total mess, that’s okay,” he said.

It usually takes two to three hours to make them street worthy.

“I’ve never bought a chain for a bicycle, because I take these apart,” Thresher said. “I put tags on them, because tomorrow I’ll forget what I’m doing today.”

On this day, he’s working on a mountain bike. Bikes have been his passion since he was a kid. “I only had one bike, a Western Auto bike. I got it for $10, and I thought it was monstrous, the best thing I had.”

And it helped him make money in younger years in central Vermont. He’d tow a lawnmower behind his bike.

“And at first, I had one lawn, then I was up to 14 lawns, and then they had me work in the cemetery,” he said.

When the temps warm up, the 81-year-old brings up the bikes to his garage. It’s a bit of a struggle. “My back is not perfect, but it’s usable, that’s all that matters.”

He peddles the bikes for $25 to $50, but money is not really a concern. “Sell ‘em, give them away, I don’t care.”

“I remember one little girl came along and she said, ‘Daddy, can I ride that bike?’” He says, ‘Well, she’s going to want it.’ That’s okay because I want her to ride it home. It pleases me because another bike goes down the road."

The former electrician has working man’s hands, rough from years of hard work.

He said working on the bikes keeps his fingers flexible. And the riding? “My back doesn’t hurt when I ride a bike.”

As for slowing down, that’s not in the cards for Thresher.

“I don’t plan on stopping at all,” he said.