These stories make me smile, laugh and wince, all at the same time.
Here's one...
About 10 years ago I began dating my current girlfriend. Her father was an avid cyclist in the 80's but at the time wasn't doing much riding. My interest in bikes was just starting to brew (ok, i'm 30) and this compelled him to bless me with a complete used bike - a 929 Vitus with a mashup of Campy and Dura-Ace parts.
The bike had been sitting around for a bit and I decided to give it a thorough once-over which included taking the seat binder bolt off. After grinding up the seat lug by trying to turn the wrong side of the binder bolt (the side that was toothed) I finally figured out what was going on and got half of the bolt out. The other half was still stuck in the aluminum lug. In my naivete and haste, I decided to pound the bolt out using a mallet and screwdriver. on about my 5th tap (maybe it was a tap, maybe it was a pound) the bolt, along with half of the lug flew across the room.... I STILL haven't lived that one down.
Lucky me... the same girl, her father and I, all road the Giro di Peninsula yesterday. We were the only ones riding vintage steel (at least that I saw).
Mark Buswell
San Francisco, CA
USA