Dear list,
What follows is the story of what happened to an old friend, living in Pennsylvania for the last 10 years, when he visited Brooklyn for a ride on July 9th, in his own words. Keith was New York State Sprint Champion a few times back in the early 80's.
Enjoy,
John T.Pergolizzi
Brooklyn, New York
What is the largest tool you've used or seen used on the bicycle? How about a concrete, steel, and wood PARK BENCH??? True story:
In Brooklyn's Prospect Park for a reunion ride with my old buds when WHAM! I do an endo right into a large traffic divider. A real bonehead move for a supposedly experienced rider. Fortunately, the thing was made of impact absorbing plastic so when I hit, it was like being caught in a giant orange catcher's mitt. I was virtually unscathed; my nice old Colnago track bike, however, was mortally wounded. The fork was bent so far back that the wheel would bang the down-tube when you turned it. It looked horrible and probably fatal for that fork. Cha-ching $$$. An expensive fix or replacement for sure, and a sour end to an otherwise great time with my friends.
So here comes John, who sees the fork, and instantly announces he can fix it... right here! Right now! No hesitation, no "Hmm, maybe if we can get it sitting just so and you push and I pull and we both make a wish..." No. " Here, Leave the front wheel on. Put the pedal against the bench... yeah yeah, just like that. Ok, now.... aarghhh. Good, good. A little more... that should do it". Look, eyeball down the blades, use the something-or-other for a reference point and index that against the imaginary line ... blah blah blah ( I don't speak bike-frame-ese). So he hands me the bike, " Here you go, let's ride." Huh? It's fixed? No tools, no gauges, no alignment table? No way, right? Way! Guess what. The Colnago felt, if anything, BETTER than it did before the crash. A little less twitchy on the front end, more stable out of the saddle with your weight over the front wheel. Yeah, better!
Moral of this story: when you go for a ride with John Pergolizzi, you WILL finish that ride. Period. SOme people know bikes. Some people REALLY know bikes. Then there's John. Thanks buddy, I owe you one!
Keith Rapisardi