[CR]Bike Character

(Example: Component Manufacturers:Ideale)

From: "Stockwell, Brad" <BRAD.STOCKWELL@mpp.cpii.com>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 20:50:35 -0800
Subject: [CR]Bike Character

To all:

A stopped to chat with the rider of a Raleigh Team 531SL bike while riding north of Woodside last Saturday. He's an older ex-Brit named Larry. 'Limey Larry' he called himself. What a character!

The bike had a cast sloping crown, with little black&gold TI stickers that had '531' in red along the top. The lug tips were filed down such that the points were almost indistinguishable; it looked as if the lugs simply melted into the paint. The bike was red, of course, with that eye-catching yellow & black 'TEAM' label on the top tube, and a heron headbadge. He had a black stem that was pantographed 'Medici' in white.

As I stared at his machine, Larry told me that I could surely obtain a similar frame from Raleigh for "100 bucks" if I simply wrote a letter to them - not to the factory, mind you, but that other place where they make 'em by hand.

Noting my interest in classic bikes, he warned me to be careful - or I would end up like his crazy friend who has 47 bikes hanging on the wall. He said incredulously: "D'you know what ee does? Ee takes 'em apart, has all the bits plated like new, and then ee (expletive) hangs 'em up again!" He also confided about bike frames: "after a hundred miles, they're all the (expletive) same".

He said that he had been part of a club called 'Pedali Alpini' in nearby Belmont, Ca, since 40 years ago, and that among others, Tom Richey and Gary Fischer had been members of the club as kids. While he gave me the low-down on all the local bike shop owners, dozens of passing cyclists called out 'Hi Larry', and he had a reply for them all.

I attempted to 'spread the virus' by telling him about cyclesdeoro, which he wrote down on a scrap of paper from his tool bag. Heh Heh.

As I remounted my bike and thanked him for the chat, he closed with: "next time I'll charge you for the (expletive) entertainment!"

What a riot!

Brad Stockwell
Back on the warm sunny roads
Palo Alto