A ton of great stuff happened at Cirque, and I had an outstanding time, but I had one experience that was very moving.
At the swap meet Paul Lee and I were browsing a particular booth where none of the items were priced. I asked for a price on something. The proprietor, a woman who I had not met, said "just pay what ever is fair". I found this startling. The woman explained that her husband had passed away and she was liquidating his collection. She looked like she was about to cry.
I never met Mike Richardson and I was too dim witted to put two and two together... My first reaction was " Oh my god, this poor woman is going to get raked over the coals!" I suggested that she needed to enlist some help with pricing before the sharks smell blood. She said that Dale was supposed to do that but he was at the emergency room getting stitches in his foot (another story).
I was reluctant to jump in and start telling her what prices to ask. I tried to help out with a couple of items and another person was doing the same... I relaxed a little and wandered off. In a little while I stopped back at her table and someone was just coming back with an item that they had taken across the room to get some pricing advise. I kept an eye on her and it seemed like she was usually getting some help.
At the end of the show we had the awards ceremony. There were many awards for bikes and people of particular merit. It was an emotional time; the culmination of a wonderful weekend. The last award presented was the first annual Mike Richardson award for outstanding volunteerism, presented by Mike's widow. The recipient was Dale... He could barely deliver his acceptance speech threw the tears. Everyone was choked up...
This woman threw herself on the mercy of the crowd and something miraculous happened. Of course we are only talking about a pile of old bike parts, but this stuff is important to us... It was important to Mike Richardson too.
You are very fine group of people. I am very happy that you are my friends.
Jamie Swan - Northport, New York