The Velo-rendezvous this weekend was a lot of fun.
Chuck put on a good party. During the Saturday symposium Mark Petry gave me a better understanding of who Spence Wolf was and why he should be important to anyone who loves vintage lightweights..
And Peter Rich's talk to end the afternoon was priceless. I'll let someone else tell the story of Peter bearding Faliero and Alberto Masi in their den under the Vigorelli 30 years ago-- a story that is a classic of its kind.
The Sunday show was, as always, the highlight of event.
It was impossible for me to pick three favorites. At first anyway. I wandered around dazed, thinking "how the hell am I supposed to do this?"
This show was one of those rare gatherings of bicycles *every single one* of which qualified for the description "ooooo, ahhhhhh, take a look at THAT one, wouldja????!!!" In the end I had to go with Jay van de Veldt's 1930s Gloria Garibaldina Extra, Jay's Automoto from 1925 (which was arguably the most remarkable bike there, in terms of both significance and condition--although the Orht (sp?) Town Bike was a close second..a bike I saw only after I had voted, unfortunately)...and Rex Gephardt's Masi Prestige show bike, a bike you have to see to believe, is all I can say.
Many pictures were taken of all the bikes; take a good look once they're posted because there were many, many amazing bikes there.
Thanks Chuck!
Charles Andrews
SoCal