Greetings campers and swap meet addicts
Just back from NY. I didn't have to leave early to outrun a snow storm this year, so I stayed a couple extra days. I know some of you were there, but nobody has written in yet, so I guess it's up to me. Maybe I should have stayed another day or two to avoid this responsibility, but the accumulating effects of entertaining a border collie, solo vintage rides (sorry I couldn't get to your ride Roy) and softball games (Team Triage, made up of faculty and other other decrepit stiffs like me who were accidentally visiting their faculty friends, VS the hippie college kids) eventually convinced me that I would be safer at home. Not a huge amount of CR era type stuff to pick through at Copake on Friday, but a little more than last year. Maybe 4 or 5 vendors, and 10 to 15 bikes/frames from our chosen era. Maybe next year will be even better. The rest was still mostly balloon tire, stingrays, and older stuff that doesn't even register in my brain. Always fun looking through the auction merchandise (see the Copake auctions website. The stuff may still be viewable), but there was nothing that fit into my very narrow range of interests, and price range. Still not enough there to justify a 9 hour drive each way just for the swap or auction, but it provides a good excuse to visit friends in the area, ride on real asphalt, with shoulders(!!), and remind myself again why I gave up playing softball.
I met list member Pete Paine who dropped in from the UK, and brought a pile of interesting bits and literature to sell. A couple "new" Raleigh catalogs I acquired from him will someday find their way to the Retro Raleighs website. Wish you could hang around for the Cirque, Pete. You would have much less of your own stuff, and maybe more of our stuff to bring back home with you.
Also yacked with recent CR subscriber and veteran swapper Jamie Swan, and his pal Paul "Fenders" Lee ( I hope I remembered your name correctly, but it had already been a long trip, with many new names and faces unrelated to the swap.) who will soon be discovering the joys and terrors of riding the Raleigh International frame he picked up there. Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down.
The only major find for me was a very scruffy white 69 Raleigh Pro frame, to replace "the one that got away" many years ago. Spotted it from across the field and didn't hesitate for longer than it took to measure it and examine for damage beyond the characteristic "squared" chain stays that result from over tightening the kick stand clamp. (Yes Virginia, 69/70 Raleigh Pros were white, and came with those miserable Greenlee kickstands, and Weinmann centerpull brakes.). For now, it was a quick, reasonably cheap way to fill the last remaining vacancy in my ongoing attempt to reassemble the original "fleet" from my misspent youth. Someday I hope to both find, and simultaneously be able to afford a nicer one. It definitely shows it's age, but I can ride it without any concern about component correctness or inflicting additional paint scratches. And more importantly, it looks like it never left, hanging there with the other sruffs; International, RRA, and Eisentraut Limited. Not the most exciting pile of steel relics, but I had a lot of fun with those old heaps. An undeniable part of who I was, and who I'll always be. All one weird but happy little family again. So it was worth the trip.
See ya there next year. Just don't expect me to score from second base unless you hit one over the outfielder's head. And come to the swap too. Larry "Let's play two!" Osborn In the pavement-free state of West Virginia