I was given a hearty "Welcome to Orlando" on 3/11 by Lou Deeter who graciously picked me up from my hotel (3 miles from his house) and gave me a tour of his Garage (which looked imho like the show-room of a manhatten bicycle shop, with roughly 12 bikes on floor stands and maybe 4 bikes mounted to the walls ~ most of which were immaculate!)
After a few minutes installing my own pedals (and unfortunately, Lou's 27.0 post and saddle, as I locked my own 300mm 27.2 post and saddle in my hotel room by mistake), it was off for a ride through sunny and tropical Orlando. We visited many subdivisions and saw some beautiful houses, including one gorgeous house that Lou announced used to be his! List member Ron Edmiston joined us for the ride, on an off-topic Cevelo Team all-carbon bike ( and I have to say, I think it will be a much sought-after and on-topic bicycle 20 years from now if these frames survive : there was something very gracious and 'nowhere chunky' about this all-carbon 14 lbs campy-record wonderbike.)
The only downside to the ride was my seatpost, which ... errr ... slid down a few times !!
Upon our return, Lou trotted out his Selle San Marco Regal Saddle collection. San Marco saddles are my favorite brand, and it was cool to see these rare saddles with molybdenum undercarriages and a series of covers that would make a rainforest conservationist scream UNCLE! ... snakesin ... lizard skin ... alligator ... crocodile? ... oh yeah, leather too !!
Lou, a former member of the US military, showed me his bicycle collection which seemed - except for an odd Colnago Super - to be almost 100% american custom bikes, e.g. most memorably, several instances of the handiwork of both Richard Sachs and Brian Baylis (that latter being in my favorite purple color from my youth !)
Thanx Lou !!
- Don Gillies San Diego, CA
P.S. for those wanting to create a 'Bicycling Hostel', it would pay to get a 300mm seatpost and comfy saddle for odd-sized visitors, and also some generic pedals / clips / straps.