CHICO, Calif. — Years ago, Dennis Wallen was driving through Marysville, about 40 minutes south of Chico, when he spotted an old, torn up bicycle leaned up against a storefront. An avid fan of “American Pickers,” he’s always on the lookout for undiscovered treasures, especially bikes. The owner had bought this one — an antique 1940 Hawthorne, now enveloped in rust — for $50 years earlier but never really used it. Wallen felt the bike had “good bones” and “special potential” even though, by his estimation, it hadn’t been ridden in 80 years. He had a vision for it, to honor a local hero with its design. So he
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