Greetings friends,
The twice yearly SD Velodrome Swap Meet went off as scheduled this Sunday under early light to medium light rain which gave way to a rather nice day. My only purpose at first for attending was to try to sell a pair of antique bikes for a local woman. About an hour before I was to pick them up from her on Sat. morning; I got a call from her announcing that she hand run into someone at the coffee shop that morning who ended up going over to see them and then purchasing them on the spot! At that point my obligation to go the the swap disappeared. I then had to choose between getting up at 4:30am to get ready and then be at the gate early to get a good sellers spot, or sleeping in or not going at all. Knowing that I would see JB there and Matt Gorski (and hoping Chuck and Jan and Peter would make it) was enough to opt for going. So as I'm driving down the freeway, I come up on a little pick up truck loaded down with bike stuff with the driver barely visible on account of parts and frames and stuff piled high on the passanger seat. It's JB! We convoy to the velodrome and end up real close to the head of the line waiting for the gates to open. We hop nob with Richard Bryne and a few others as we wait. Finally the gate is opened and we drive in only to find a few "curb jumpers" in ahead of us. No biggie. We're still going to get prime real estate for selling. Great, I've got nothing and JB has got what he calls "chaffe". That might be a little generous, but we'll go with that. The swap meet is really an opportunity to get out and hang with a few friends as the entertainment goes on around you.
Immediately the trading begins as the the swapwise types who know all the best stuff happens before the buyers get in start dealing. By the time the sellers came in, I had bought a bunch of little trinkets here and there, the most expensive being a 3TTT adjustable angle and length stem for $20 which I thought was reasonable. All there and in pretty good shape. Got a pair of Suzue double sided track hubs new for $10. My Bro Matt let me have a Brooks pro saddle (hard as a rock, just the way I like them) from a bunch of stuff he scored, for one of those close friend prices. Ended up with a bunch of Suntour WIDE ratio 5 spd FWs (Hey, I'll get old some day-a 34 T cog could come in handy) and some triple front and rear derailliers. Bought a funky cool jersey from Bro JB for $1!
I got to watch some really talented shoppers do their stuff as JB, Matt Gorski, Sterling Peters, and Tom Hanson all demonstrated their different styles as I crossed paths while doing laps around the velodrome on my Masi "city bike" (which had a catastrophic blow-out as I was talking to a few people, causing everyone in the immediate area to duck for cover. One guy said "that was you?, damn I almost crapped my pants!") It was loud. Fortuantely, I walked around until I happened upon a box of inner tubes for 700c x 32 w/ presta valve. $1 ea. or 6 for $5. Well I'll take 6 then. JB and Matt fixed the tire for me and I was back doing laps. I had a blast. It's really rich to spend a day in the company of good friends and running into all kinds of people you haven't seen for a long time. I think I'm going to start to ride on the bike club Sat. rides again. Haven't been out for several years; but seeing lots of old friends and clubmates, none of them has aged any less than myself. I think we've all mellowed since our racing days; I sure have (trike rides notwithstanding).
This meet was as big as any that I have seen at the San Diego Velodrome. There are still vintage bits that surface at meets like this and the prices are still pretty reasonable on most things. I hope eBay doesn't end up killing off events like this. Judging by this meet, they are still healthy here in California. I don't think we have anything to worry about; there's just something about doing business person to person that enriches the experience most of the time.
That's it folks.
Brian Baylis Didn't spend too much, came home happy in La Mesa, CA