<< Favorite Cirque moment: Returning solo from the Tour de Guilford on my Paul LeMaire. Missed a turn and ended up on the backside of the park area. An older gent comes in from the left and pulls up along side me on a white and turquoise Raleigh. "Nice Bike", I say, "Is it a Competition, er, no a Gran Sport, yes?" "It's an antique", he says. I smile. "I KNOW that". Small talk continues a bit. "Are you going to the Cirque?" I ask. "The What?" he says. He didn't know anything about it, even though his bike was redone by Dale!!!! "You got to go" I say. He was headed that way, anyway, to meet up with his wife. He had only phone-call change on him. I pay the rest of his admission and lead him in. Later on I see him with his wife. He's all smiles and holding a set of rims he bought at the swap. "These are what originally came on my bike" he says happily.>>
Nice story, Mark. Turns out that guy owns the International House of Pancakes where many Cirquers eat breakfast when here in Greensboro!
Thanks
Dale Brown Greensboro, NC USA http://www.classicrendezvous.com
-----Original Message----- From: MARK <mhoffman0@snet.net> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Sent: Sun, 25 Jun 2006 04:24:37 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [CR]Cirque Epliloge
I had a great time attending my first Cirque. Thanks to Dale and everyone else. It was great to get together with everyone. My wife had a great time too. It was especially nice to see Mike Kone and Paul LeMaire, two old friends from CT.
Favorite Cirque moment: Returning solo from the Tour de Guilford on my Paul LeMaire. Missed a turn and ended up on the backside of the park area. An older gent comes in from the left and pulls up along side me on a white and turquoise Raleigh. "Nice Bike", I say, "Is it a Competition, er, no a Gran Sport, yes?" "It's an antique", he says. I smile. "I KNOW that". Small talk continues a bit. "Are you going to the Cirque?" I ask. "The What?" he says. He didn't know anything about it, even though his bike was redone by Dale!!!! "You got to go" I say. He was headed that way, anyway, to meet up with his wife. He had only phone-call change on him. I pay the rest of his admission and lead him in. Later on I see him with his wife. He's all smiles and holding a set of rims he bought at the swap. "These are what originally came on my bike" he says happily. I'm feeling as warm and fuzzy writing this, as I did then and there.
We left NC and headed to PA via the Blue Ridge Mts. Stopped to see Walter May, anther ex-CT friend and pick up his J.P. Weigle bike for a "re-grooving" and fitting with contemporary brakes. (He's turning 70 and sports a new set of knees...titanium I believe!)
Came home and dove into a back-log of bike work that had accumulated while on the road, and am just finishing reading all the CR mail. Walter came up to CT to visit friends and pick up his Weigle. He popped open his trunk and there sat the cutest 24" front wheel Shogun. Another friend gave it to him, to try and get his wife on a single. (She only rides on their tandem currently). I thought it ironic, given the related current postings. I didn't know Shogun had made one.
Then, yesterday, wrenching at a local shop I part-time at, in walks Mike Schmidt, on his way up to Vermont for an Adventure Cycling event. Good thing I was working on an on-topic Motobecane at the time!!! We had fun reflecting on Cirque, much to the envy of Bruce MiIler, the shop's senior mechanic and retro-grouch exrtrodinaire. He pointed out the plight of many bike professionals who are trapped in the busy season and wish they could attend Cirque.
Just wanted to share and again say what a great couple of weeks it's been.
Mark Hoffman,
Rain Drenched in New Britain, CT