After skipping Copake because I was concerned about a 3+ hour drive in the rain and a possibly rainy and cold event, I had faith and drove 3 hours in the rain to Trexlertown for the spring swap. Good thing too because the weather brightened up. As I made my way past a bunch of large shop-type vendor displays I ran into some buddies from Long Island NY who alerted me to some items that they knew I would be interested in. My score of the day (and I could have just gone back home, happy) was a big (25.5", fits me!) Raleigh Competition G.S. in excellent original, barely ridden condition. I think it is a '79 with Campagnolo Nouvo Gran Sport. The Brooks pro is stamped 79. It still has the reflectors on and dry-rotted original Raleigh 700c tires on Weinmann concave rims. The stem is Japanese made, stamped Raleigh, and looks to be an SR forging. It has a 5mm hex key type expander. The chain and freewheel are as clean as can be. The black cloth handlebar tape has little if any wear and is sli ghtly faded. The black paint is glossy and all the decals are intact. I gladly paid the $200 asking price. My wife, Rita, asked me "don't you ever bargain?"
I also couldn't pass up a $50 Peugeot with all the trimmings: fenders, rack, dynamo, lights, lock. 700c steel wheels. Alloy Simplex downtube levers, Mafac brakes (not Racers. nutted shoes, ball-end staddle cables). But, at 56 cm, it is not my size. I really need to learn to pass over these things and leave them for someone else (although the seller was happy I bought it and threw in an extra, longer, french diameter stem).
Then I did the unthinkable. I stopped shopping and prepared for the ride. I didn't make it through the entire swap area. I apparently missed where Joe-BZ was setup. I am sure I would have bought more but the Cirque is coming up.
I bumped into Larry Osborn often and met Roy (name tag) Drinkwater, Pete (Peugeot salesman) Geurds, Tom Adams, Dan Artley, Mike Rawlings and a few more I'm sure.
The ride was fun. Rita and I were on a 3Rensho tandem. There was a good amount of wind and nice rolling hills. A good day for a tandem. I wished we had been able to stay together and missed talking with Dan Artley and getting a good look at his nice Colnago. The Batavus was cool too. Tom's Marinoni was fresh from Dales paint shop. Wow! Very nice work indeed.
Paul Lee
Huntington, NY