Bob M grew up in Tonawanda, a suburb of Buffalo, New York. He started riding bikes as a child and his first two wheeler was a Huffy; complete with a spring shock absorber, light and a horn in the frame.
He is a tall, thin guy; when he wasn't getting into trouble he was playing basketball, even in the winter when it was so cold he had to take the ball inside to warm it up every 15 minutes to keep it bouncing.
He was the captain of his high school cross country team and competed as a long distance racer. Today he is an avid skier who loves skiing in the trees and especially loves powder days! He continues to shoot hoops twice a week and also does yoga, pilates, weight training and swimming. His latest bike of choice is a Kestrel carbon road bike.
After high school Bob attended Westchester Community College where he earned an AAS degree in Mechanical Technology in 1967. He was hired at Xerox Corporation and continued to work at Xerox in different research projects for 40 years.
In 1985 he was offered the opportunity to come to California and work on a temporary project. In 1988 he was offered a permanent position as a member of the research staff at Xerox/PARC. He retired in 2007, and enjoys riding his bike(s), working out at his health club and working at the Bike Exchange.
Bob's association with the Bike Exchange began about 20 years ago when he met Dave Fork while working at PARC. He has been involved with the project ever since and today he is our final quality control inspector. If Bob doesn't like the way it rides, it goes back to the crew to fix.
Asked why he is so active with the Exchange after all these years, Bob says that it is because there are always new challenges, and he is still learning new things.
Learn more about the superstars who keep SVBE rolling through our previous featured volunteer spotlights!