CR friends -- especially Neil Berg,
Today, I was granted several hours of freedom from Mayo World and made haste through gale and a threatnin' flurry to Austin, Minnesota just to visit and jaw-drop upon the Rydjor Bike Shop, the actualized vision of the late Dan Ulwelling. In addition to standing agape beneath the splendid gallery of vintage bikes, which can be viewed in 2-D c/o the shop's website, I met most if not all of the shop's superb staff. Wonderful, open and warm guys who obviously were very proud of their association with Dan, the shop and the collection: sensitive and knowledgeable apprentices all. So, my purpose here is neither to describe details of my visit (visually attainable on the web) nor the shop's august contents (but I was asked which was my favorite bike: hmmm: ouch: the 58 CILO..., no! the 52 AUTOMOTO.... jeez...), but to convey the personal warmth and physical authenticity of a shop that is a relative newbie (<20 years) in the galaxy of this old dog's universe. It was a fine day, albeit amidst a 40 F max temp and steady blowing rain.
JB Froke, scanning generous medicinal vapors and recollecting Pebble Beach, CA