Re: [CR]Am I really being stupid?

(Example: Events:Cirque du Cyclisme:2004)

Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 13:02:33 -0800
From: "Chuck Schmidt" <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]Am I really being stupid?
References: <40D49506.6050904@erols.com>


Harvey Sachs wrote:
> (cut)
> I'll admit that the practical ramifications of this are colored by my own passion for riding my bikes instead of looking at them. Just by accident, I bought what turned out to be a 1938 Paramount from a buddy who got it at a filling station, 30 years ago. It is painted in rattlecan. MAYBE this year it will get proper paint. It's just been more fun to ride it "in mufti" than look at it with perfect paint, hanging on the wall, too valuable to ride.

This reminds me of a story that is a pretty close analogy...

A friend who was prez of the Gull Wing Group for a number of years had a 300 SL that he drove for a few years and then undertook a very complete restoration that turned his user Gull Wing into a 100 point concours car. At that point he felt it was too nice and was worth too much money to be driving it... so much so that eventually he sold it as he wasn't comfortable not getting any use out of it. Of course the next owner was perfectly comfortable driving the perfect Gull Wing and enjoyed using it immensely figuring that it could be restored a second time if it was restored the first.

(i apologize for the off topic analogy but I don't have a bike related experience to the above)

There was the Masi still wrapped and in its box that John Barron sold last year. That one brought up moral issues deep inside of me that still makes my brain hurt. What to do, what to do...

Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California

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