Greetings campers and aluminum recyclers
If in fact Leona Helmsley, the "Queen of Mean", was correct in her assertion that "taxes are just for the little people", (at least until she was indicted for tax evasion) I was feeling very small last week. I can remember when "getting small" was at least fun. After having my pocket picked so close to departing for T-town, I was resigned to having to behave myself. Adding that to more than the usual quota of mayhem in the previous couple weeks, I was not exactly Mr. Cheerful when I plunked my butt into the driver's seat. But the demons bailed out somewhere along the way, no doubt remembering that they nearly drowned last October at T-town. And they took my trusty sidekick (Black Cloud) with them, leaving me with no shade whatsoever in the T-town sun. Whouda thunk. I had an umbrella, but no hat. Mr. Tomato-head returns. Ow ow owowowowowowowowowowie. I'm just never prepared for a beautiful sunny day.
Seemed to be a much smaller turnout of both vendors and buyers. Less stuff to pick through, but a much better environment from a claustrophobia and personal injury standpoint. Could actually get to the tables, spent more time looking at the stuff and much less time ducking and weaving to avoid catching a frame in the eye. Concerned about the current trend in the ever changing inventory though. Many more chainrings with only 4 bolt holes now than with 5. Hardly a freewheel to be seen. Very few boxes of interesting assorted old junque under the tables to while away the time in between the initial opening rush, and the late swap bargaining phase. It does not bode well for the future. Inevitable I suppose, but would hate to think we've mined out most of the older stuff.
So why keep going? Why not? Not going to sit around at home trying to fix the lawn mower. I still have the snowblower in the basement, nice and warm, ready to go, just in case. And where else am I going to find bike stuff these days? Enjoyed other people's recent stories of trash dump finds, but all I ever found at the dump were roving gangs of rabid raccoons. No doubt about it, I gotta find a better dump. And I've come to expect being outbid on everything bike related on ebay. I don't even feel it anymore. But very discouraging when I start getting outbid regularly even on the obscure books I usually managed to acquire. I mean what are the odds that there's somebody else out there that has even heard of Salmon's complete "Native Trees of New Zealand" (out of print, and what every tree book should aspire to be in terms of content. An outstandingly beautiful and useful book. Serious tree-porn.), is actively searching for it on ebay (!!!), and is willing to go to the wall to obtain it? Oh well, fortunately there's always ABE for me to fall back on. The other bidder and I could probably become friends if we hadn't been so busy trying to strangle each other in cyber space. Who else are we going to find to talk to now on that particular topic? I hope HIS copy got lost in the mail!! But I digress. At least at T-town we're only competing with all the bike kooks in the east, not all the bike kooks on the planet. And there's plenty of junque for everybody to relax and have fun, and even enjoy other people's treasures. Amazing how therapeutic a day with the bike kooks can be.
Not my usual pile of useless loot, but still a reasonably successful dumpster dive. A nice bargain set of off-topic clincher wheels to beat the crappe out of, forgetting of course that I had already filled that need at each of the previous two swaps. Oooops. Fine. Maybe now I have a lifetime supply. And a few other odds and ends, for me and for friends who couldn't make the trip. And I managed to beat the marauding hordes of CRers to an even better bargain on a vintage set of wheels; Campy high flange hubs and Weinmann tubular rims, that I had all but given up hope of ever finding. Suitable for any of several early 70s Raleigh Pro/Int rehab projects. Made my day. So excited I forgot to ask the obvious follow-up questions "What bike did they come off of, and where is it?" At least I can finally stop kicking myself for selling the wheels from my 69/70 Pro 20 some years ago after yet another Tubasti tantrum. (And miraculously I got my damage deposit back on that apartment). A little quality time with the Simichrome and they'll look fine. Sounds like a winter project to me. And winter is coming. How's that for optimism and a cheerful outlook? Looking forward to seeing magnolia blossoms in NC in a couple weeks.
Did anybody get up to Copake?
Larry "Mr. Cranky" Osborn
Morgantown WV