A Canadian classic at auction.....

I don't know about anyone else, but it seems every time I see an old bike in an auction listing the sale is either too far away or taking place on a day I can't go. In fact, seldom do old bikes even appear for sale in my neck of the woods.

You can appreciate my complete surprise then when a photo of an E Z bicycle made by the Nott Bicycle Co. of Brantford ON. appeared in ad for a sale taking place not far from where I live.

True to form the sale was on a day that I had something else on in the afternoon. I did have the morning free, however, and so headed off to have a look at the bike. It didn't disappoint. Although rusty it was for the most part complete with its wooden rims, wooden grips and even a wooden chain guard (a feature I hadn't seen before) in tact.

With a great degree of anticipation I approached the auctioneer to ask what time he expected the bike to sell. I was disappointed to say the least when he said between 1 and 2 in the afternoon. I said I couldn't stay and asked if he would consider putting it up earlier. He said no, but if I wanted to leave a bid with him that would be OK. 

That's what I did. I got a bid number and wrote $310 on the back of the card and gave it to the auctioneer. Driving home I got the uneasy feeling that I had probably been light on the bid. That evening when I got a call from the auctioneer he confirmed my fears and told me the bike had sold to someone else for $380.

If I'd been able to stay at the auction, I would have continued to bid, but I'm not real comfortable leaving absentee bids. I'm sure Jamie McG. will be disappointed when he sees this. I was hoping to bring this treasure home to Brantford for the bike show in June.

John