What a great day!
I took notes: Jan Johnson riding an '02 Peter Johnson fixed gear Peter Johnson riding an '82 Peter Johnson lugless J.D. Miller on a '90s JP Weigle Steve Maas on a '60s Carlton Catalina Andrew Gillis on an '01 Mercian Dave Ductor on a '90 Pedersen Phil Brown on a '99 Phil Brown Greg Pitman on a '75 Cuevas Darlene Pitman on a '70s Holdsworth Chuck Schmidt on a '75 Peter Johnson
The theme was American built bikes this month with two builders riding their own creations (Peter and Phil). New faces this month were J.D. Miller who drove from Edwards AFB out in the desert, and Greg & Darlene Pitman (who met when they both worked at Peugeot West in the early 1980s; how great is that!). Of course the long distance drive champs were the Johnsons with their 12 hour round trip commute (talk about passion!).
I thought I had a lock on the prize for "Most Drillium Bike" with
Peter's green '75 Peter Johnson
http://www.velo-retro.com/
Greg's '75 Cuevas was something special too; drilled dropouts (even the upper part that connects to the seat stay was drilled; never saw that before), Zeus derailleurs and he rode it across the U.S. in the '70s!
The weather was spectacular with mid-80s temps and mountains 50+ miles to the east clearly visible... the bikes were spectacular... heck, the riders were spectacular... we looked marrrrvalous, didn't we ;)
Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California
Greg & Darlene Pitman wrote:
>
> I want to thank Chuck for inspiring me to ride my old Cuevas for the
> first time in 15 years. I spent the last 2 days cleaning it and my
> wife's old Holdsworth in anticipation of attending the event. Not having
> ridden with other folks in many years, I was a bit apprehensive. Wow,
> what a pleasant surprise. I'm afraid to name the folks because I'm bad
> at names and don't want to offend anyone. But Peter and Jan Johnson were
> there and Phil Brown and Andrew (can't remember the last name) and the
> guy on the cool Pederson (sp?) and JD on the JP Weigle. Saw a beautiful
> Mercian, several lovely Peter Johnson frames and a cool Carlton that had
> a blow out just out of the parking lot. But what a great time! On the
> way home, my wife and I reflected on how much it reminded us of our
> lives before children. Everyone was so nice, and only a few murmers of
> "drillium" were heard :).
>
> We stopped at an English pub for a brew on the way home. And now we're
> about to sit down to a mound of pasta, with my homemade sauce and
> meatballs (Sicilian grandfather's recipe, e-mail for a copy). I love to
> cook as much as I love to ride.
>
> Thanks very much, Chuck, we had a great time.
>
> Greg (and Darlene) Pitman
> Rancho Cucamonga, CA