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'Bike Man' Geronimo Shockley dies at 48

Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL) - November 29, 2007
Author/Byline: Seth Robbins

DAYTONA BEACH -- The ''Bike Man'' builds no more.

The fanged and tattooed Geronimo Shockley was known to the kids of Madison Avenue as a builder of two-wheeled
dream machines, often giving away refurbished bicycles for a penny and a promise to stay out of trouble.

Shockley, 48, died of stomach cancer Thanksgiving Day

''He was like a bigger brother for me,'' said 11-year-old Alex Trammell, whose family lived next door to Shockley. ''All the
kids in the neighborhood, they were all sad.''

Shockley, who had his top two canine teeth filed to points, was born in Tennessee and he grew up on farms in Iowa.
His mother, Naomi, gave nicknames to all her seven children.

Shockley, however, was always proud of his Native American sobriquet and lived his life accordingly, his son, Emanuel,
said Wednesday.

After being discharged from the Army, he became a bounty hunter traveling to Texas and California. During this
time, Shockley picked up a penchant for holstering several knives to his belt.

''The blades were a part of him,'' his son said. ''He never liked guns.''

In 2000, he moved to Daytona Beach to work on high-rises, but was hurt in an accident in 2004. When he went to
the hospital, doctors discovered he had cancer.

Instead of bemoaning his fate, Shockley began to tinker with bicycles, setting up a backyard shop wherever he moved.
Many have seen him shirtless, wearing flipflops and shorts, kneeling over a bicycle chassis.

To the neighborhood children, he sold the broken bikes for a penny and then helped make the necessary repairs to get
them working again.

''I can see them ride by and know I helped them build that,'' he said last November in a NewsJournal story. An array
of pedals, wheels, and candy-colored frames are littered behind the fence of his last home on Taylor Avenue. A
sign stenciled with the words ''Bike Man'' stands out front. It was made by his 20-year-old son, with whom he
reconnected eight months ago. Emanuel's twin sister, Lily, still lives in California.

A BMX rider in California, Emanuel Shockley moved here to be with his father and help him through his illness. They
were assembling a chromed-out, chopper-inspired tricycle when his father died. Neither knew the other built bicycles
when they met.

''He got to know me better than my own mom,'' Emanuel said as he looked over the gleaming body of the unfinished bike.

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The teens still stop by, flat tires and mangled brakes in hand. They ask for his dad.

He tells them what happened and that ''the bike shop is still open.''

Record Number: 410065348

Copyright, 2007, The News-Journal Corporation

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