Ann wrote:
> Something we touched on last week on the list, is how in Italy,
> the average
> citizen might have been considered a poseur riding a finely
> crafted racing
> machine without the credentials to go with it.
It might interest you all to know that in Italy it was common, indeed perfectly normal, for the top racers, upon their retirement from active racing, to take their bikes and either pass them on to upcoming younger riders or simply convert them into 'city' bikes with chainguards, mudguards and upright bars. So even the ex-pros were ill-inclined to 'pose' with racing bikes after giving up active pursuit of the sport. This also explains why many top racing bikes from the 40's and 50's are now found set up as 'city' bikes, hardly recognizable as racing bikes to most. At the time, a bike was a highly respected piece of machinery.
Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ