Really beautiful get together today at the Rose Bowl vintage bike ride. Sunny, very clear, with temps in the high 60s.
Turn out was a little smaller than usual due to Super Bowl Sunday. Ten people showed up with their vintage mounts. Robin with her very nice Casati, Dennis with his repainted Guerchiotti, Aaron with a beautiful orange Jack Taylor, John and his girlfriend on their matching Pedersens, Doland on a very original Peugeot PX 10, Andrew on immaculate blue Mercian, Rick on his fixed gear (can't remember the brand :), me on a silver Peugeot PY 10 CP, and Phil on his exceptional Ph. Brown faux French bike.
Talk at the coffee stop drifted from the Grateful Dead to art house movies to the occasional mention of a bike related subject ;) And of course, anticipation of the final third of the ride since it is almost all down hill!
At the end of the ride I was admiring Phil's bike. It is built in the style of a fifties French bike with all NOS French parts (even has the Simplex demultiplcator!?) and the paint scheme and decals are very much of the period. The odd coincidence is that it is exactly what our friends in Japan are doing with their custom Toei bicycles built in the style of Rene Herse and Alex Singer with all NOS French parts. The only thing missing from the Ph. Brown were the dimpled aluminum fenders that usually reside on the bike, taken off in honor of the beautiful, warm SoCal winter day.
The rest of you should really try to attend one of these monthly get togethers when you're in the Los Angeles area.
Another wonderful vintage ride; what a great way to start the month!
Chuck Schmidt
South Pasadena, Southern California