This weekend was a gorgeous day (sunny, 50s) in Seattle and I rode the hell out of my Alex Singer randonneur! I went thru some back and forth on whether to ride this bike, as it is (was) in essentially unridden condition, and what I finally came up with was that life is too short to keep such a wonderful machine hanging on the hook.
So I rode up to Jan Heine's house, Jan is a journalist and bike collector, he was a contributor to Cycling Lore among other things. He owns a couple Singers and I wanted to show him the bike. On the way home I was hammering to make the 2:10 ferry back to Bainbridge, I rode from from Jan's house near 85th down to the ferry terminal, next to the water part of the way, in 28 min. This is near world record time! It was downhill, big ring, tailwind the whole way. The bike felt solid and substantial, not twitchy at all. It ran without a hiccup, shifting and braking flawlessly. I definitely stretched it out!
Later, at home, I retorqued the cranks to 250 in/lb, wiped everything down and shot Lemon Pledge (the BEST bike wax) all over it. I did leave a few splatters under the BB, just to prove that it had been ridden. My opinion is that you have to RIDE your bike, even your best one, maybe only on perfect days, but life is just too short not to enjoy them ! The soul of the machine is lost otherwise.
================================================ Mark Petry Page/Voicemail: 206.618.9642 Beautiful Bainbridge Island, WA ================================================ mailto:mpetry@bainbridgeisland.net ================================================ "Most of american life consists of driving somewhere and then returning home, wondering why the hell you went."
John Updike, "Rabbit at Rest" ================================================
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-admin@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-admin@bikelist.org]On Behalf Of MasiGC3V@aol.com Sent: Monday, December 04, 2000 8:05 AM To: RALEIGH531@aol.com; classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: Re: {ClassicRend]To Ride or Not to Ride
I suppose there are list members who own truly classic cycles that have real historical value. If I owned a 50 year old cycle ridden on the Tour or Giro it would safely hang in the den or possibly at my office. Nevertheless temptation would be to take it for a spin now and then.
My own practice is to ride the Colnago Super or the recently completed '76 Masi GC restoration only on dry sunny days over good roads. I even built up ride wheels so that the Martano tubular rims with NR high flange hubs remain pristine for show. So I guess its a mix of philosophies.
I recall we went through this analysis about a year ago and one list member kept up the hobby despite the fact that he no longer rode a bicycle. I found nothing unsettling about that at all! Its about appreciation for the frames, components, dedication, art and engineering, I think.
I just hope that the aesthetic of a perfectly restored Gran Criterium is not depreciated by the fact that my ugly butt is riding it.
Regards,
Carlo Carr (Used to collect stamps but I mailed them all)