Well gang, I have just finished putting up all my photos (or at least the photos I could put up.. I have a lot to learn about my latest camera! Sorry!)
Take a look here:
http://www.classicrendezvous.com./
This certainly was a very enjoyable if somewhat condensed trip to Pasadena. What a neat interesting city with an amazing history.
Big kudos to Chuck for continuing this event. I learned that it much more difficult for him to provide a venue than for me at the Cirque. If we didn't have the potential for rain, we could use many parks in Greensboro for free or close to it! Conversely, Pasadena charges an arm and a leg to squeeze along the edge of the tree line in Balboa park! So I am even more appreciative that the VR exists and succeeds the way it does.
I didn't arrive in time for the frame builder part on Friday (Someone give us a detailed description of the goings on...) We dined Friday night at a German motif Brewery place and were lucky to have a separate room. I was lucky to sit near Paulie and Al Davis, who I had wanted to meet for so long AND Maurice Bresnahan and Brian Baylis who are both serious buds! The typical hilarity and cacophony of 30 or 40 of us (?) was a blast?
Sat AM was the VR Symposium. The Casita del Arroyo was a nifty little place. Made of the actual wood from the old velodrome, this cottage is perched on the edge of the arroyo (Small valley? Large gully?) and outside it great spans of artful stone bridges soar about in every direction. Neat setting. The speakers were great.
To start us off, a gentleman whose name escapes me now did a great job of sketching together the Pasadena involvement with cycling most especially in the late nineteenth century.
I had never met Ted Ernst before but heard much about him and I was enthralled with his stories, his energy and sheer passion for cycling. He brought three or so big scrap books loaded with old pics and told us the history of bicycles from his perspective. Great stuff!
Brett Horton, the collector supreme, talked about his quest for meaningful cycling memorabilia and he told about his special quest for a particular legendary time piece that had been used in the very earliest Tour de France races. We all gulped a big one as he passed that very watch around the room!
Mark Petry had the Cupertino Bike Shop and Spence Wolfe as his topic.. And what a fascinating and influential man! In many ways, Spence created much of the interest and attitude that enlivened the USA cycling scene.. Truly Spence Wolfe was a USA bike icon and Mark did a crackerjack job increasing all our knowledge...
Finally Peter Rich from VeloSports in Berkeley talked about that same cycling scene from his own very important perspective. Peter was a critical element and catalyst in that awakening of the USA that leads up to today's healthy resurgence of sport cycling. Peter is funny and irreverent.. The story about his final dealings with Masi have already been alluded to by another CR post so I will not tell that story either.. Hilarious!
Saturday night we were supposed to chow down at a particular restaurant but the teeming masses of people who flooded Old Pasadena on Sat nite had not been fully anticipated! Rather than an hour + wait, the wandering tribe of vintage bike buffs ended up at yet another Brew Pub restaurant (the name escapes me and it's not important!) We had fun though and finished up with Gelato not made in Milan but good!
Sunday AM started with a crew heading out again for a 25 or so miler and by 10 AM many had returned and the rest gathered in Balboa Park for the show and barbecue. (By the way, a "barbecue" in Pasadena is what we call a "cook out") The bikes were arranged on the grassy edge of a tree line on the back side of the park's edge. Nice trees and pleasant surrounds. Take a look at the pictures to hopefully get the feel of things.
I had to leave a bit early for my flight from LAX (which I barely made in time)! so I missed the awards etc. Someone please post a message for us as to who won what!
Cheers Dale
Dale Brown
Greensboro, North Carolina