Hey Listers,
1stly, ....... Was wondering if any from the list are from or close to the Aliso Viejo, CA area. I may need a hand for an item i have purchased if I can't have it shipped promptly by the seller. Just asking in event that not everything is as smooth as wished. e-me for more details if you might be able to help - just in case. Thanks !!!
2ndly, ....... Anyone wishing to sell a v.good - exc. condition gold ano campy bmx crankset (complete with ring)? Lemme know.
3rdly, ...... I will be in Washington DC for a super-quick visit next week ahead of my friend & colleague Zalmai's exhibition coordinated by the Aperture Foundation and the UNHCR (UN refugee agency). Im helping set some of the exhibit up ...... OK OK ... I'm also angling to be introduced to Angelina Jolie who will be a spokesperson at the event & was recently named the UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador for Refugees. I'll miss the actual opening of the exhibit but i warmly extend an invite to anyone who is able to attend ........ National Geographic Explorer Hall and also at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on World Refugee Day, 20 June 2004. The exhibition will then proceed to Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other American cities.
http://www.unhcr.ch/
http://www.unhcr.ch/
What's all this to do with classic cycling .... well, a fellow benevolent ciclista has offered me the use of a brand spankin' new DeRosa 50th anniversary bike for the day in Washington. Im none too familiar with the city and would like some advice for a nice 1/2 day ride around the capital area. I'm fast .... real fast, so without meaning to seem rude, distant or a bragadiccio, any here will have zero chance of keeping up with me ... sorry. Just the facts ma'am. Seeking suggestions where I might get a chance to warm up & possibly break a sweat in a 54 x 11 .... failing that, maybe some loooong 15% grade climbs (that's average - not peak) would suffice for a light-er workout option than I'm used to. Heck, I got so much 'roids & EPO in me Marty No-spleen & Miguel Indurass look like William Hung & Urkle next to me. I'm fit too - Lance pays me not to race till he gets his 6th. So much in fact, he is dating rich & famous so he can come up with the big-bucks to keep me quiet & patiently at bay.
So ... what's this to do with classic cycling ..... Well, just in case our very own Peter Kohler is feeling fresh, fanciful & fast on his 1948 RRA & by chance spots my light speed blur ahead of him; I would be SO ashamed were he to catch my wheel, before passing and dropping me on a Carbon everything, weighs nothing modern day superbike; especially as im only half his weight & a third his age & will have 5 times as many gears ...... not to mention as that i have about as many spokes as I have spent nights alone (yep, I'm sexy too - I have seen more dawns than farmers).
Mr. Kohler et al ..... I'm accepting cash wagers at long odds for any 2
wheel challenge you care to lay down .... (unless im reading the
below post from an earlier thread all wrong)
> Me, I know one thing it's the bike, specifically the classic machine,
> that gives me a extra competitive edge. I'll be damned if some Trek
> that looks like a toothpaste tube ridden by some spandex-clad 20 year
> old is going to pass MY PX-10 or my Comp GS or my RRA. Never.
> .......... I frankly don't have much opportunity to dwell on the sheer
> ugliness of a Trek or Litespeed... they are usually behind me. And one
> never, ever looks back...
>
> Peter Kohler
> Washington DC USA
>
Can you say challenge ???
Those in-the-know on the CR list will know that John Thin-Lizzy had purportedly slashed his Clement Seta's when in a match sprint against me so as to avoid embrassment back at the BVVW bathhou... er .... i mean clubhouse .... & that perenially fit, veritable super-man Rich-E Sachs-ified®\u2122 was rumored to have deleted Rogaine from his daily intake after i dropped him in our last race .... he muttered something or other about being subject to Fignon's curse .... what's that - asks your humble narrator (thinking it must be a reference to something before I was born ????). Those of you local to downtown DC are welcome to see the greatest of gams (being mine) flexed with purpose. A few oldtimer's seeing my blur-of- beauty\u2122 have gasped before uttering ....... "Major Taylor reincarnated". For real !
I have a few tricks up my sleeve in case them RRA's are way more advanced than I'd bargained for & I hadn't correctly anticipated for what beyond what 50 years of "wearing in" may benefit it's efficiency ........
actually, nah ... I wont need 'em and will even bring a "famous" item to present to Mr. Kohler to even up the decidedly lopsided spectacle of the Year ..... if not Decade. Schuck Chmidt suggested I offer it to Mr. Kohler 'coz he is already foaming at the thought of the CR archives swamped with remonstrations about "the race of the decade" being rigged or of the anticipated rumors & unending verbage about me supposedly slipping sugar into my opponent's beloved 4 speed Sturmey Archer (say that 3 times fast).
What could possibly bring that 50+ year old bike up to par with the best of today ????? (It's even on topic ... kinda)
http://ebay.com/
The seller's ending claim HAS to be an all-time legendary quote for an ebay item ...... """Caution: Do not wear this helmet if you are not fast. Show up with this on and people expect something. You'll look like a geek if you wear this and don't win. """ LoL ..... I love that person .... really, truly ..... deeply. My hat (& bra ??) is off to the wordsmith and insouciant cognescenti who wrote that. Legend !!!!!!!!!!
What size helmet d'ya take Pete ??
Gotta go - Chick(s) beckon ......
Ciao,
Ben "yes it's late.... (hic !) " Kamen NYC
p.s. Just kidding Pete ;-)
p.p.s Dale - I won't do it again, Pergo-Sachs-Schmidt - I love you all
p.p.p.s So I lie a little ...... I like my bikes older - like
chickens, the older one's make the best soup !!!!
Cambio-Corsa & Open-C skewer broth anyone?