I Know this bike...

It feels great  when tou finish a hard day's work, get out and the first thing you see out of the office is a bike you made...

Cavalier Cravero - Bycicle Museum in Bra

It took me such a long time to write about this, probably because I wanted to pay homage as best as I could to this unique person, as unique as anybody who dedicates an entire life to one passion. His name is Luciano Cravero and he lives in Bra, Piemonte. Bra is right in the middle of places like Langhe, Barolo and Asti. When you're drinking or thinking of some of the best wines in the whole world, this is the land where they come from. The very same land producing one of the most extraordinary hazelnuts in the whole world. And we should perhaps also talk about the quality of the meat over here, and the cheeses. Put simply: if you're looking for gastronomic tourism in Italy almost any place is good but this is definitely one  to keep in serious consideration.

It is also a land of cyclists, no doubt. Endless roads winding up awesome hills in the midst of castles and vines, with the Alps in the far distance framing your landscape. Ups and downs to satisfy any kind of palate. You'll see people training all the time.
Class of '38, Luciano Cravero is from an era when as soon as you had the strength to help your family you would be sent to work. From an era when perhaps it was easier to cling to one passion and never let it go. And that's what happened to him apparently: his father bought him a ladies bike (men's bikes were too big for a kid) and he never stopped pedaling ever since. At 17 he bought his first racing bike,  at 18 he attempted professional cycling but finding a compromise between work and riding was impossible and Luciano remained an amateur, driven by his passion in a different direction. Instead of being with the riders, he followed them along the track. The Milano-Sanremo, Il Giro, the Tour de France...Mr Cravero devoured the races with his own eyes. Races of all sorts, from the most international and competitive ones to the local, amateur races. A spectator, he can satisfy another great passion in his life, photography.

Most importantly, he collects. He begins collecting posters, photos and shirts of all sorts. From the first Maglia Rosa of the Giro d'Itala to any kind of of amateurs or professional shirt he can put his hands on. Some of them are just amazing, like Marco Pantani's Maglia Rosa from the 1998 Giro d'Italia, or the Bianchi shirt worn by Fausto Coppi after the war. And flasks. Hundreds of water flasks, now accurately showcased in the Bicycle Museum he created in Bra, almost on his own. When the idea of a museum comes to his mind, Luciano faces it with the usual passion: he begins collection bikes from all eras, from the Bersaglieri military bike of the first world war to models with the first gear shift mechanisms, the penny farthy, a firemarshall bike from the beginning of the 20th century mounting a fire hose right in the middle, an old track bike, bakery bikes and butcher bikes. Even a salesman bikes from the twenties, when salesman would arrive with a luggage tied to their bicycle to sell their goods at the local markets.

If you want to visit the museum (kindly hosted by Mr Piumatti in a dedicated space inside his Bra Servizi), you will have to take an appointment. That's because Mr Cravero wants to be your guide. He wants to meet you, and he will take you through the museum and describe every single item he collected. He will tell you the story of each and every bike and how hard it was for some of these to find all of the pieces, how people and friends throughout the years have helped him enlarge his collection. He will show you every newspaper article he framed, tell you stories about professional riders from the past and about races he saw in ages when carbon, titanium or even aluminum were unknown to riders. 

You will feel the strength of his passion for bicycles in each and every step he takes with you. And when the visit is over, he will ask you to send him a postcard when you go back home. Possibly with a bicycle in the picture, to include it in his collection of bicycle-themed postcards. And that's what me and my girlfriend Alice did: we sent him a wonderful postcard from our hometown Trieste, with the local Tram ( a cable car that goes uphill a bit like those in San Francisco) riding uphill with a bike on its rack...

Museo della Bicicletta

Corso Monviso 25

Cav. Cravero: 3336567315

Bra Servizi: +39(0)172412507

14 February 2012