With the experience of the Cirque and thoughts of how it's grown still rattling around in my brain, I just had to had to add this little anecdote.
Just before I left for NC, I got an interesting email. The writer stated that he had seen my member profile on the Vintage Bike Source web site, and was wondering if I'd be interested in selling the Gios I had listed among the bikes I owned. What the write had failed to notice was that the VBS site was last updated in March of 1997! I'm still amazed that it's still there. It did, however, stir some great memories. VBS is where I first me Dale (electronically, that is), when I posted an inquiry seeking info on a Stan Pike frame I owned. Dale responded, and he was the only other person I had met (at the time) that had heard of Stan Pike. The rest is history and a cherished friendship. Oh, and I sold the Gios at the first Cirque I attended.
Yes, the VBS site is still sitting there in cyber-space. Frozen in time. The member directory is 19 people long. Chuck Schmidt is member #3. Dale Brown is #8, I'm #11, Lou Deeter is #19. I'm sure some of the others are also lurking on the CR list. What a time capsule.
While at the Cirque this year, I asked Dale when he had started the CR list and he couldn't remember. Now, based on VBS, I realize it must have been around '97. And, oh boy, we've come a long way. Dale has managed to pull together a host of diverse people from his vast and various associations into a collective that is nothing short of astonishing. Brian suggested Dale be nominated for Sainthood. I second the nomination. If such a thing exists in the bike world, Mr. Brown deserves it!
Ciao -
Wayne Bingham
FC VA