Hello everyone,
Well, my favorite weekend of the year came and went again, and I am just now getting around to my report. This year\u2019s VR4 was even better than last year's '03 version.
I especially loved the lectures on Saturday. Andrew Ritchie's presentation about racer Zimmerman turned out to be fascinating. What would I ever need to know about a bike racer named Zimmerman anyway? Well, there was plenty of great information there. And it seems to me that people who are passionate about their subject are not going to be dull. This was absolutely confirmed all afternoon.
Ted Ernst is a hero of mine anyway, so hearing him talk about the early days of the bike shop in Chicago did not disappoint, of course.
I enjoyed Peter Johnson's presentation, too. This guy is on fire about bikes, a blast to listen to, and a super skilled craftsman to boot. There was a really nice surprise with Jan's contribution, which helped me to understand her entry into cycling and subsequent triumphs, thanks to her innate talent and Peter's encouragement.
Charles Andrews provided a Powerpoint-assisted presentation on the subtle changes in Colnago design and pantographing throughout the history of that marque. He had beautiful bike examples on hand, too. His talk was exactly the kind of hands-on show that helped me to try to catch up on some of the vast unknown-by-me details of this hobby.
I was sorry to miss the framebuilding seminar this year, but thanks to Dennis's great photos posted to the hahaha website, I feel better about it. I always enjoy hearing Brian Baylis talk about frames. More bike passion again -- never boring!
It was really cool to see framebuilders Ed Litton, Bruce Gordon and Rob Roberson attending, too. Sunday's show and lunch was just a beautiful thing. Perfect weather and awesome bikes prevailed. It was fun to meet email buddy Larry Osborn and his wife Tammy for the first time this year, as well as welcome folk from New Zealand. I still have yet to make one of the rides on any year yet, but that remains a goal. And it's good to have goals. :-)
Big kudos to Chuck and Sherry for the huge effort in making it all happen. I cannot wait for next year.
Paulie Davis
Los Angeles