$4,775 for Jacquie Phelan!

When Charlie Cunningham passed away last month, we lost not just an incredible inventor and fabricator, but also a very dear friend. To help his wife Jacquie Phelan—a mountain bike pioneer in her own right—with the inevitable expenses during this difficult time, we sold Bicycle Quarterly 29, with 23 pages of interviews with Charlie and Jacquie, for $25, with all proceeds going to Jacquie.

We had about 200 copies left, and you, our readers, really stepped up to the plate: 191 magazines have sold so far, and we’ve sent $4,775 to Jacquie. Thank you to all! We hope you’re enjoying the great stories that Charlie and Jacquie recounted in the interviews.

Our friendship with Jacquie and Charlie goes back many years. More than twenty, in fact. Back then, I was thinking about a sequel to our first book, The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles, that told the story of the French constructeurs and their amazing rando bikes. I decided to make a similar book about racing bikes—but I wanted to show the actual bikes of the champions, not lookalikes. And racing was going to be all forms of competition, not just road racing. I drew up a list of ‘dream’ bikes that I wanted to include: a Bianchi ridden by Fausto Coppi, the time trial bike Greg LeMond used to win the 1989 Tour de France by just 8 seconds, the hour record bikes of Eddy Merckx, Francesco Moser and Tony Rominger, but also a motorpaced stayer bike, a racing high-wheeler, the tandem that came first in the 1956 Paris-Brest-Paris, and even a bike from the incredible races of the Paris newspaper couriers. And many more.

Then began the global search for these bikes. Some didn’t exist any longer: Greg LeMond’s time trial bike had been repainted in the colors of his next bike sponsor! (Instead, we included Greg’s first road bike as a pro.)

I was more lucky with the mountain bike I wanted to include: Jacquie Phelan’s ‘Otto,’ the aluminum bike Charlie built for her. She rode it to victory in the first three (!) NORBA championships. I think it was Joe Breeze who put me in touch with Jacquie. She listened to my project and replied: “My bike never leaves me.” My heart sank. But Jacquie continued: “If you send me a ticket to Seattle, I’ll bring it to the photoshoot.”

And so I got to meet Jacquie and spend three fun days with her while shooting the American part of the book. (We also set up studios in multiple locations in France and Italy.) Jacquie is one of those rare people who combine strong opinions with true kind-heartedness and a real sense of joy. There’s never a boring moment around her! She’s also a tireless promoter of women’s cycling and founder of the WOMBATS (Women’s Mountain Bike And Tea Society).

We’ve stayed in touch ever since. Via phone and email, we’ve exchanged tips about Japan (Jacquie learned Japanese before going there!), shared stories of beautiful rides, and more. And when we visited San Francisco and the Bay Area, we visited Jacquie and Charlie for a wonderful dinner on the porch of the treehouse where they spent most nights.

Jacquie is one of the most generous people I’ve met. From time to time, she sends us an envelope with a book or magazine that she knows we’ll enjoy. Like one of my favorite cycling books, From Repack to Rwanda, that chronicles the development of the mountain bike and features great studio photos of dozens of pioneering machines. When I asked Jacquie where I could buy this amazing book, so I could give copies to my friends, she said: “Oh, you can’t buy it. It was the catalogue for an exhibit by the SFO Museum at the San Francisco International Airport. I sent you my personal copy…”

Last week, another envelope arrived from ‘Offhand Manor,’ as Jacquie calls her and Charlie’s amazing house. Inside were two copies of 1960s American Cycling magazines, with a Post-It saying “Lyli inside!”

And indeed, inside was a report from the 1965 ‘Huff-and-Puff Tours.’ Lyli Herse, the daughter of our founder, had joined one of the tours during her one-and-only overseas trip. I’d heard about the trip from Lyli and seen her photos, so it was fascinating to read the story from the perspective of the American organizers.

In fact, these old mags are full of familiar names: Bill Vetter (builder of French-style cyclotouring bikes), Clifford Graves (organizer of youth trips to France, who popularized René Herse bikes among his American friends), Fred DeLong (bike tech expert), Bob Tetzlaff (one of the fastest racers of the time)… The U.S. cycling community was really small back in those days. Thank you, Jacquie, for sharing those glimpses into the early days of the sport we love!

Charlie is gone now—above a recent photo Jacquie sent—and we miss him dearly. At the same time, we’re looking forward to many more years of friendship with Jacquie.

A memorial for Charlie will be held in the evening of August 8, 2026, at the Marin Museum of Bicycling in Fairfax, California. That’s also where ‘Otto,’ Jacquie’s amazing Cunningham that won the first three NORBA national championships (above), is usually on display, together with many other historic mountain bikes.

Further Reading:

The books mentioned above are all out of print, but they can be found in used bookstores and website:

• The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles (J. Heine & J.-P. Pradères, 2005): The amazing story of the French constructeurs, who built bikes that were far ahead of their time. This was a best-seller—used copies are plentiful.
• The Competition Bicycle (J. Heine & J.-P. Pradères, 2008): The actual bikes ridden by the great champions in beautiful studio photography. Another easy-to-find best-seller.
• From Repack to Rwanda: The Origins, Evolution, and Global Reach of the Mountain Bike (SFO Museum, 2012): A beautiful exhibition catalogue with dozens of studio photos of historic mountain bikes. Rare—good luck hunting.
• Bicycle Quarterly 29: We still have a handful of copies of the magazine with the interviews with Charlie and Jacquie. A proceeds go to Jacquie.