It's my turn to thank Ken for hosting this ride on what turned out to be a beautiful, precursor to Fall, day. There was a nice crowd of riders, already named by Marty and Harvey, so I'll just mention that the bikes were really special. My beater blue/mink Raleigh Pro was the worst of the lot and I was surprised by the attention it garnered on the ride, with several people saying they never see these on the road, just as wall hangers.
Ken is really specializing in English bikes and his collection is nothing short of stunning. I've posted photos with a link at the end of this e-mail, but didn't get all of Ken's bikes as he has a number in the basement where I forgot to pull out the camera during the tour. Ken's got a number of 50's bikes, most of which appear to be road/path machines, a cool Higgins shown on my last year's vintage ride photos, Tom Adam's old green Ephgrave, now set up with more period correct items, and a couple others I've forgotten, all really very nice stuff. Maybe we can get him to post photos of his garage.
Tom Witkop showed up with a really pretty R E W Reynolds, and the name Woodrup turned up as a possible builder for them. I was sorry I hadn't brought my old Woodrup, not very nice paint, but my first really nice bike. His wife and two sons came back after the ride to join in the fun, and I heard Tom mentioning a vintage bike for his son sometime soon. Tom's an eclectic collector. He's never met a bike he didn't like and his cavern is quite something to see, including an orange Dave Stoler twin plate that's my size.
Wayne brought a couple of bikes, one of the three Raleigh Team Pros (Ilkeston?) and a Merckx that he'd built up with all black components that he rode. And who can forget Peter Kohler with his gorgeous original paint Raleigh (RRA?) Moderne. What a perfect period piece and with his all black wool Brooks kit and white trim, he was the sharpest of the bunch. Mark Frazier, who couldn't make my ride in July, arrived with the two Raleigh Team Pro's, one fixed, looking perfect with the whole team jersey and photo (check out the photos).
Marty was totally enamored with the Carlsbad Masi that he'd just gotten on Craig's list for Kathleen. Isn't it great when you can ride your wife's bikes? Beating out other CR folk to the punch, it really was a nice period piece, all original and in very good shape. Much nicer than the $200 beach Masi I picked up a couple years ago.
Harvey was showing off a lever operated Allenax (sp?) that he'd picked up somewhere. I understand not doing much with it, but it would have been nice to have some fresh grease in the cables. The left and right cranks were in two different gears when in low, but still a hoot to try out! I should have gotten a couple closeups of the shifting/gearing system. He and the other Mark were riding silver Paramounts.
The ride Ken picked was gorgeous, with enough climbs to give the fixer crowd a bit of a workout, and much of the route closed to traffic along Rock Creek Park, surprising as close to DC as this ride is. The pace was quick too, with me averaging nearly 16 mph for the 25 mile route (I may have been the only one w/ a bike computer as I'd ridden the Raleigh Pro this year on Bike Florida) and working to keep up a few times. I think nearly half the riders were on fixed gear. The park had a good bit of fresh paving, motoring in and out of the pedestrians and cars was really not bothersome at all. A great day for a ride.
When we arrived at the house, Ken and Betsy fired up the grill, and served pizza & brats. With Ken's British theme, I wasn't the only one who brought Bass Ale. Robert St. Clair arrived at ride's end with a few really pretty frames in perfect paint to show off, everyone lined up their bikes along the back walls and the eating/talking picked up.
Besides Bill Hale and Tom Roberson missing, I was also hoping to see Paul Raley and Larry Osborn. Maybe they'll make it to Trexlertown. My wife Barb was invited, but until she get's to know more of the CR folk, she'll probably be a no show. She'll be joining me at next year's Cirque', and she'll get to meet many of you if she's not doing too much sightseeing.
Here are the photos, please excuse the few out of focus ones, but I left
them in to show most of the event. http://sports.webshots.com/
Since I can't get enough of a good thing, I was around at the end speaking with Ken and Wayne about next year's Cirque'. Wayne's looking for volunteers to help out with the organizing and set up. He's scored a fairgrounds for the Cirque' so there will be as many as three buildings for the swap meet and Cirque, with the main building almost twice the size of the Lewis Recreation Center. Wayne was talking about having room to properly display bicycles, even personal displays to really show off the bikes. And the additional room will allow more vintage tables around the perimeter. Can't wait! I've already made our reservations.
Happy trails,
Dan Artley in Parkton, Maryland