Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1542902
16 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com Bob Hicks Birthday Bash Bob Hicks Birthday Bash At Cycles Classic Cafe & Museum At Cycles Classic Cafe & Museum By Kurt Flachbart By Kurt Flachbart A ques on we get asked o en is "How's Bob Hicks doing?" Well, my friends, I'm happy to report Bob, who just turned 96 years old, is doing remarkably well, and thanks to Cycles 128 owner Rob Cerundo- lo, a birthday party of epic propor ons was held for him at Classic Cycles Café & Museum at the Cycles 128 loca on in Beverly, Massachuse s, one frigid night in January. For those unfamiliar, Bob Hicks founded New En- gland Trail Rider Magazine with the first issue pub- lished in April of 1970, to provide those interested in the fast-growing sport of recrea onal trail riding with guidance and informa on on where and what to ride. Scrambles, later known as Motocross, was Hicks' first passion for off-road motorcycle racing, and his voice, so to speak, was Cycle Sport Maga- zine, a monthly publica on that Hicks also founded in 1958. Cycle Sport was all about scrambling/mo- tocross, covering New England Sports Commi ee events. NESC, an organiza on that Bob was also instrumental in establishing, to this day hosts the majority of New England motocross events. Bob ran and published New England Trail Rider from 1970 to 1983, selling the business to pursue another passion of his, small boats such as canoes and kay- aks, and began his third publica on, "Messing About in Boats" only months later. Over the course of 40 years, Bob wrote and published 760 issues of Messing About in Boats, finally re ring in 2023 at the age of 93. Catching up with Bob has been something I've been looking forward to for far too long. Although we do speak on the phone several mes a year, thinking back, I believe the last me I'd seen this man, whom I've held in such high regard, was 1980 at a Pilgrim Sands Trail Rider's event. As one who prefers to arrive a bit early for events of this nature, I'm glad I did as not only did I have an opportunity to chat it up in person with Bob, I got to reconnect with his son Rick Hicks, a former NESC Expert Class moto guru, who, , I spent a fair amount of me chasing around as a kid on Trail Rider test rides, along with a few memora- ble trail rides back in the day. In fact, it's funny what we remember throughout our lives, and I remember