Listees,
Well, here's how my trip went. Beginning on Thurs. afternoon, I started towards Seattle/Bainbridge Island for a few days of interaction with the Vintage Bicycle crowd in the Seattle area. There were quite a few in the area who were not present for one reason or another. What they missed was the first of what we hope will be many more vintage oriented bike gatherings. I suspect there are nearly as many enthuesists in that area as there are in So. Cal, they just haven't gotten to the state of orginization that we have down here. As always with vintage guys, this group is both interesting and friendly in addition to being loaded with a large number of vintage classics. For me, meeting people for the first time or reconnecting with someone from my past is where it's at. The bikes are real cool and all that; but talking to people and shareing knowledge and experiences is what I attend these events for. I was not disappointed.
I arrived in Seattle late in Thurs. nite and my host Mark Petry picked me up at the airport. We headed directly for the ferry that takes you from Seattle to Beautiful Bainbridge Island, WA. The ride takes about 45 mins. and is very scenic, even at night. The boat was loaded with a bunch of "Metallica" fans that had just been let out of a concert. That was a treat. ;-) Oh my! Mark was very good at pointing out all of the points of interest and loading me up with interesting technical facts about all sorts of things. Life revolves around the ferry schedule, as I will explain, for those who live on the island. When we reached the island we drove directly to Mark's pad. He has a comfortable home that is nestled in a forest of calm and quiet. Although it is easy for islanders to become secluded there; if it is peace and quiet one seeks, it can be found on the island. The people who live on Bainbridge Island know one another quite well in most cases because they all end up spending a fair amount of time on the ferry, if for no other reason. Mark tells me that the island population is around 20,000; several of whom are people like ourselves or at least bicycle-centric. There is an active cycling community both on the island and in the greater Seattle area. I am amazed how many seem to have originated from the Bay Area of California. Anyway, we turned in shortly after getting to Marks' place so we could get an early start on Fri. morning.
Early rise and the first order of business is COFFEE! These people really love their coffee, and for good reason. Many times on account of the weather, especially in the dead of winter, it can be very difficult to get the motor running. Mark hand grinds the beans using the real deal that mooshes up the beans real good. Result, high octane coffee. Yessir! Dump that in your tank along with a fruit smoothie and you couldn't get more awake and ready than if you connected your tongue to a car battery. Of course, as soon as you're "awake" your stomach starts sending you messages. Feed me! So we went into town in search of breakfast. The "hometown" diner was our target. Been there since the 70's and is very quaint and they served up a delicious Huevos Rancheros, just the way it should be. Barely got out of there alive after stuffing as much of it as I could get in; even filled up my hollow leg there was so much food. Being a slow eater, it's a good thing I have a small capacity; (only the outside of my belly is big). It was amazing how fast these people move during the morning rush while attending to 5 or 10 things at once. That's kinda like my whole day around here. We then took a car tour of the island and some of it's historical high points.
I think the next thing we did was head over to Jeff Gromans' "Classic Cycle" there on the island where they were just about to open. We sat next door and had more coffee while we waited for the 10 am opening. Jeff was still in Campbell, CA as a guest of Specialized along with Dale and a few others on the list. Jeff's wife opened the shop and we stepped inside to look around. Jeff has two shops. This is the first one. It is a normal modern shop except for the upper "layer" of vintage classics that line the walls, simular to what Dale has done at his shop. In the shop is only a very tiny portion of the amazing stuff Jeff has collected. I should have taken notes, but I remember an awsome Claude Butler tandem, a beautiful and rare fully chrome Hetchins Hellenic track bike, and one of those all aluminium French bikes that I'm not going to even try to spell. Several others were on display also; every one a special piece in great condition. After a short time we got word that some of the cool guys that work for Jeff at the other store in Kingston were in that day, so we decided to pay a visit there. We went back to Marks' place and swapped the Toyota pickup for the Prosche 912 for the drive out there. Classic car for a trip to a classic bike shop. It wasn't a speed run, just a fun ride in a bright red sports car.
More soon. Wanted to get started on this but time is short right now. Back with more soon.
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA