Here's my take on what happened: lemonade from lemons. Jay did a great job of recovering his composure and showing a bunch of us why he thinks his neighborhood has some of the best riding. Hard to argue, I would say (and I live in Portola Valley!).
A couple of minor additions to Jay's report:
John Pratt and Stan Dann bought their Hobbs Blue Ribands new in 1949 at age 19, from a shop in Vancouver, BC. Someone ought to write more about that story. I think that makes them (the guys) 75 or so!
The fancy-lugged rescue bike was none other than a pre-Raleigh Carlton International. It was a Salvation Army-type rescue, complete with ugly rattle-can paint over everything.
My bad for not checking my email before we left home on Sunday morning, but in the end I'm glad I didn't.
Check out my attempt at photo-documentation (much of it from the bike) at:
http://www.wooljersey.com/
Dave Ross
Portola Valley, CA
>
\r?\n> Howdy campers,
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Sunday dawned with the threat of rain by noon, so I
\r?\n> hurriedly got on the
\r?\n> computer and phone to warn those driving long
\r?\n> distance that they may
\r?\n> want to re-consider their long drives if it was
\r?\n> going to rain. After
\r?\n> all that, I was surprised to get a phone call from
\r?\n> Dave Ross informing
\r?\n> me that "We're here". Holy smokes! After meeting
\r?\n> with him and Nancy I
\r?\n> directed them to the parking lot, got my bike and
\r?\n> rolled down to join
\r?\n> them. I figured at least us three would take our
\r?\n> chances with the
\r?\n> weather and ride. When I got to the meeting place I
\r?\n> was astonished to
\r?\n> see 10 folks and their bikes waiting for me! I
\r?\n> will NEVER again
\r?\n> underestimate the dedication of this vintage crowd.
\r?\n> Here's who showed:
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Paul Williams on his pretty Ed Litton
\r?\n> Dave Ross on a Super Elliott - beautiful hand
\r?\n> painted graphics
\r?\n> Nancy (soon to be) Ross on her very clean Austro
\r?\n> Daimler
\r?\n> Allen Bloom stealthy black fixed gear Paramount
\r?\n> Jacque Daniel on
\r?\n> his really neat old Stella folder
\r?\n> Sally Daniel Photographer - this time
\r?\n> Tom Rawson riding a very nice Hetchins
\r?\n> Rod Davidson mystery frame with interesting
\r?\n> paint detail
\r?\n> me myself and I on my Olmo Competition
\r?\n>
\r?\n> We had some local representation thanks to Jacque,
\r?\n> Sally, and Allen.
\r?\n> Another local fellow showed (darned if I can
\r?\n> remember his name) on a
\r?\n> fixed gear conversion frame with very nice ornate
\r?\n> lugwork. Can't
\r?\n> remember the name because the headbadge was painted
\r?\n> over. He didn't do
\r?\n> the ride. Another treat was the appearance of John
\r?\n> Pratt and Stan Dann,
\r?\n> with their Hobbs of Barbicon bicycles that they
\r?\n> purchased at the same
\r?\n> time when they were 19 years old. They have been
\r?\n> friends since
\r?\n> childhood and are now in their 60's I would guess.
\r?\n> Great story and neat
\r?\n> bikes. Dave Ross gets a pat on the back for these
\r?\n> two showing up. I
\r?\n> didn't even know about it. They couldn't do the
\r?\n> ride. Maybe next
\r?\n> time, eh fellas?!
\r?\n>
\r?\n> To make a long story longer, we had a great ride out
\r?\n> to the airport,
\r?\n> where we got a group photo with the Pacific Coast
\r?\n> Air Museum as a
\r?\n> backdrop, rode back, had lunch, b.s.'d a bit, then
\r?\n> disbanded. Jim
\r?\n> Jenkins made a cameo appearance on his Cinelli SC
\r?\n> at the end of the
\r?\n> ride. Dave and Nancy had to blast off first, as I
\r?\n> think they had the
\r?\n> furthest to drive. Although it appears that Dave
\r?\n> had other things to
\r?\n> do, like test ride a fixed gear Cinelli.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> So...the ride went off, in spite of my neophyte
\r?\n> organizational skills
\r?\n> and nervous nelly attempts to cancel. Bob Freitas
\r?\n> was reasonably sure
\r?\n> it wouldn't rain, and even though we got sprinkled
\r?\n> on a couple of times,
\r?\n> he was right. To Bob and others who took my lousy
\r?\n> advice, sorry and
\r?\n> hope to see you at the next ride. And thank you
\r?\n> Sally for the photos.
\r?\n> Dave took photos also, so look for his photos and
\r?\n> report.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I had fun and I think everyone else did too. The
\r?\n> countryside and
\r?\n> scenery were beautiful. See for yourself here in
\r?\n> the folder marked
\r?\n> SCVBC ride:
\r?\n>
\r?\n> http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Jay Sexton