Scott and Angus and Scott's Bike Hero Prize: |
The BikeRod&Kustom Webzine B I K E H E R O A W A R D 2 0 0 1 Last year's hero, Josh Merrow, earned his award for a program he designed which used custom bike building to teach math and science to school kids. While this is a very worthy thing, there are other Bike Heroes who do good things on a smaller scale. Such a one is Scott Cuthbertson, who does good just by being a bike buddy to a single autistic youth. Associate Editor Michael Watson found Scott in his own neighborhood, near Toronto. Scott has been presented with a Phat Cycles Chopper, as a token of our esteem. Your own Bike Hero nomination is welcome. Jim Wilson |
Scott Cuthbertson B I K E H E R O Interviewed by Mike Watson Introduction: I was out for an after-supper ride, around two years ago, on my big Redstone mag-wheeled chopper with two cranks and a vibrating pad on the sissy bar, as I rode by the house of the local car enthusiasts they were out in the driveway working on a car. The two guys happened to look up as I was cruising by. I said "Hello" and one of them said "Can you stop for a minute? I want to get a closer look at your bike." To which I said "Sure". I was asked the usual and some unusual questions regarding the bike. The older of the two guys had salt-and-pepper hair and glasses and was a few years older than myself and the younger's age was hard for me to pin down, some where between 20 and 30; I figured them for brothers. I saw that the younger guy worked at the local submarine sandwich shop. His lowered S-10 hotrod pickup would be parked taking up two parking spots to protect the fire-engine-red paint from carelessly opened car doors. The odd time, if I was in buying a sandwich I would ask him how he was doing at the bracket races lately. I like talking cars almost as much as I like talking about bicycles. His name was Scott. Scott got a deal on a new toy, a used 25cc two-stroke scooter and began screaming around on that. He wore out the back tire quickly and came around for me to change it, for a used one from my junk collection. I will fast-forward to last Christmas day, around 11 o'clock in the morning, my daughter wanted to deliver a present to one of her classmates, two blocks over. It was a strange winter- very little snow and mild temperatures. On Christmas day the streets were bare and dry but it was very cold -25 degrees C. I suggested to my daughter that we bike over to deliver the present, she agreed. She rode her chopper and I rode my swingbike, it having a windshield. We delivered the present and on the way back I spotted Scotty hunched over smoking a cigarette around the end of his garage. I rode in the driveway and asked what he was up to. His grandmother was over and she doesn't know he smokes! Scott really liked my daughter's bike and asked me if I could build him one like it; I agreed to. The result of the commission was the monster rectangular-tube chopper with twenty inch wheels, a scaled-up version of my daughter's bike. I left a message with Scotty's mother that the bike was complete. Below: Scott Cuthbertson and bike buddy, Angus. |
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He came by on a saturday morning to check his new bike out. His jaw almost hit the ground when he saw it and said "It's HUGE!". The bike wasn't what he had in mind, he wanted something the same size as my daughters bike, but supposed that this bike would be OK to ride to the bar and back on. He was pressed for time, since he had waiting in his car an autistic boy he takes care of on Saturdays, giving the boy's mother a break. I told Scotty that it was great to see him helping to make society a better place. He asked me to build another bike, this time smaller. |
The second try was a disaster; I got very self-indulgent with rectangular and square tubing. The result was the ugliest looking, evilest handling bike I ever built or even rode. Live and learn! Scotty wasn't the least bit interested in this bike, needless to say, but asked me to try to get it right a third time. I agreed to build him another right to specs and we met when I had got the parts together and described how I was going to execute it; no misunderstandings this time. The result was a radical but cute 16-inch-wheel chopper that was an ideal pit bike for at the drag races. Scott was most pleased. |
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The Interview: I was sitting out in my driveway on a sunny breezy summer Saturday morning, in a salvaged swivel desk chair waiting for Scotty. We set it up friday afternoon, I was tallbiking after work and Scotty was driving the other way. He was late for work but was on his way back home because he forgot his smokes. Scotty rolls up. Mike: How do you spell that last name of yours? Scotty: Cuthbertson, Cuth like Ruth and Bert-son. Mike: How old are you, any ways? Scotty: 24. Mike: How did you get interested in kustom bicycles? Scotty: A crazy guy around the corner, he told me they were good for picking up chicks. Mike: I wonder who that could be? Tell me how you got hooked up with Angus? Scotty: I worked at a co-op placement through Algonquin College for two years, and his mother came in for a parent-teacher interview and noticed that we worked really well together and she approached me and asked if I could work with him on saturdays. Mike: How did you get interested in the field? Scotty: I learned sign language when I was in grade 6, enjoyed it. I apply it now when working with autistic people who can't speak but can sign. Mike: What activities do you do with Angus? Scotty: Everything. You name it, we do it- roller blading, biking, go-carting, bowling, water sliding. Mike: What did you study at Algonquin College? Scotty: I started out with computers, operating systems and I saw one too many error messages and snapped: Sitting in front of a terminal just wasn't me; and I went to see a career counselor at the college to see what would be a better fit. I enjoy working with people much more than things. I then enrolled in the Developmental Service Worker program designed for working with developmentally-delayed people. Mike: What qualities do you have that makes you well suited for your current field. Scotty: Lots of patience; and I'm a people person. Mike: How did you get interested in hot rods. Scotty: Dad's a car nut. Mike: What was the male/female split of the enrollment in the program you took? Scotty: 6 men, 90 women. Mike: Any problems with that? Scott: No it was great, but sometimes the professors would ask for the "male perspective" on certain situations or problems in the middle of lectures, I would have to be honest, but choose my words carefully, for the sake of political correctness. Mike: I find it intriguing that on one hand you're into things that are considered macho like drag racing, stock car racing and managing a pool-hall bar, but on the other hand you work with the developmentally-delayed; how do these seemingly radically different things fit together? Scotty: I see what you mean, I guess I've got a sensitive side. The car stuff, I get that from my Dad and older brother. Working on cars requires a lot of patience and usually involves working with other people, so alot of the same skills are applied to both the "macho" and "sensitive and caring" activities. Mike: What charitable causes are you going to be involved with in the future? Scotty: My brother and I are going to park the stock cars at the entrance of the pool hall and run a promotion for the Food Bank, using the gutted interiors of the stock cars as food hampers, if customers donate 3 cans of food they'll get 3 dollars off their pool bill. And of course, we'll break out the choppers next year for charity rides; do more of that. Mike: Yeah, there's nothing like having fun and doing good at the same time. Well, that pretty much covers it. |
Scotty: Got to get going and pick up Angus. |
Scott and Angus and Scott's Bike Hero Prize: |
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