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Remembering my friend, Clay
Clay Mankin died Sunday November 13 of natural causes doing what he loved:riding his bike. He was just a week shy of his 50th birthday and to celebrate,Clay was treating himself to a solo ride from the San Francisco Bay Areato Santa Barbara when he died.Clay was a gift to cycling and as I pause to remember him – I feel honoredto have ridden with him. As the owner of CityCycle bike shop in San Francisco, he was legendary for his abilityto pull people into cycling.The last time I saw Clay he was also shoving off for a big ride. Hewas riding from our Bike Camp hotel in Tuscany to meet a former shop employeewho lived north – we figured it was 120km or so.“No worries,” he said after scoping out the route. Clay had his touringbike fitted with panniers. He was traveling light and traveling right.He loved to ride. Clay was fit and trim, always energetic with bright eyes.He was quirky too. The toll free number for the shop 1-800-88Elvis. I’msure there’s a story there. I never asked.
You had to look close to notice that his left arm was severely diminishedfrom polio and even closer to see how he’d rigged the bike to compensate.Ahhh, the bike is a great equalizer! From the back, he looked like an aboveaverage master’s rider.I first met Clay when he attended Bike Camp in Boulder in 1997. He cameto mentor under Andy Pruitt at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine sohe could increase his knowledge of bike fit. He made a lasting impression.More than a gentleman, Clay was a truly gentle man. He was pleasant, conversive,easy-going. I imagine he was intense in business but I lingered on thegentle side of his personality.We reconnected in 2004 when he unexpectedly showed up at our inauguralDavis Phinney Foundation event in Cincinnati. His dad had Parkinson’s Disease.“Put me to work,” was his attitude. “I want to help.”Big smile. He was our line to Robin Williams who donated several bikesto the DPF through his shop to auction at our events. When Robin showedup at our San Francisco event, Clay and I exchanged numerous thumbs-upsfrom across the room.He’d been invited to the Milan bicycle trade show (EICMA) and has hisway paid by the Italian Trade Commission – so he extended the trip andjoined us for most of our Bike Camp in Tuscany. He was on vacation butprobably helped everyone at the Camp with their bikes – or ontheir bikes - at some point during those four days. As usual, he made alasting impression.We won’t forget you, Clay.His young son Riley lost his his dad, his wife, Alison, has lost her mateand cycling has lost a dear friend. Please contribute to Riley’s fund.See citycycle.comfor more information.Enjoy life!
Connie Carpenter
Connie Carpenter is the 1984 Olympic women's road race gold medalistand wife of 1984 TTT bronze medalist Davis Phinney. Both are actively involvedin raising funds to advance the fight against Parkinson's disease throughthe DavisPhinney Foundation.
