June 8, 1982

By J.B. CARLILE
Of the World Staff

BARNSDALL - "Unless the job is incredibly time-consuming or messy, I don't charge for it," bike repairman Randy Clements said, in the characteristic good humor that helps him get through the days of nonstop stopped riders.

As one of two bike repair operations traveling with the 600 riders of FreeWheel '82: The Cherokee Trip, Clements works all day every day rescuing stranded bike riders.

Putting Lee's Bike Shop on four wheel, he joins Arlie Snow of Fay's Bicycle Shop supplying everything from tools to trinkets.

And the two are usually the Big Men On the Campground.

"It's not like being the Maytag repairman. I'm not the loneliest man in camp," Clements joked.

Because most bike riders can fix their own flat tires, Clements said he spends most of his time replacing wheel spokes, which makes a lot of people afraid of bumps in the road.

His rolling bicycle repair store usually travels the 60 or so miles of the route each day more than once.

Some riders are brought to a screeching halt by run-ins with other bikers, and others just figure they can't go another mile without a padded seat cushion.

The two bike shops provide paraphernalia for everyone from the seat-sore to the sunburned.

Most repairs are minor, but once in a while something happens that will send a rider home or send Snow to Tulsa for parts.

Like the bikes that blew off the the bike rack on top of one vehicle before it got to the starting point in Guthrie Saturday, for example. Or the pileup of riders that bent a few wheel rims.

"Fortunately, it isn't very often that somebody gets banged up too much to ride," Clements said.

"Most of the people seem to be pretty knowledgeable about bikes and bike riding," Clements said, himself a veteran FreeWheeler.

"It's just the unavoidable bumps and wrecks we work on."

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