on 8/10/04 12:40 AM, Bac2the50s@aol.com at Bac2the50s@aol.com wrote:
> Hello ALL,
> I own the 1935 Monark Silver King manufactured Wards Hawthorne Aluminum bike
> that took best Balloon tire bike at the Larz Anderson show. It wasnt hard for
> me to win a trophy since there were only three balloon tire bikes in
> attendance and I provided all three of them. The other two were first a
> Schwinn Black
> Phantom loaded with 30 lbs of period accessories adding to its already
> ungainly 68 lb bulk fortissimitude.( I once did a century ride on that 98 lb
> behemoth while training to do Ragbrai in 1995 which I completed on an art
> deco 50
> lb Bowden Spacelander fiberglass bike.) Both the Phantom and the Bowden have
> been called Pee Wee Hermans bike more times than I care to remember which
> brings me to the third entry I had at Larz which was one of the actual Movie
> bikes
> from Pee Wees Big Adventure. A modified Schwinn DX with saddlebags to hold
> the 5000 feet of chain Pee Wee used to lock the bike up at the Alamo. I fully
> expected that bike to win something but it didnt.
> In past years at the Larz Show it was easy for me as a vendor of
> classic bike parts to easily take in thousands of dollars in sales on a
> Sunday
> afternoon while the 20 or so entries I had in the show ring won several
> awards.
> When the museum stopped the swap meet they harmed their overall objective in
> my opinion. To educate and to inform and to entertain.
> When bike shop owners from other cities bring their rare items along with
> their collective knowledge, that is educational and informative. The cast of
> characters is highly entertaining and crossover camaraderie between roadies,
> ballooners and musclebikers flourishes and thrives. Curtis Anthony from Via
> Bicycle in Philadelphia never missed this show before but was NOT there this
> year.
> Sam Fitzsimmons from Baltimore ditto.
> No longer do vendors come from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Florida, Chicago,
> California. Why should they pay the expense to get there when there is no way
> to
> re-coop any of the out of pocket costs associated with bringing truckloads of
> great items to a venue. Or to display to less than 100 people. 3 years ago I
> put 24 bikes in the show ring including half a dozen bikes of historical and
> high monetary value. This year I put 3 bikes in. The show reminded me of the
> last 15 minutes of major shows after 98% of the people have already packed up
> and gone. And that was at the beginning. Attendence was anemic and that is
> being
> complimentary. To call it a national bike show was somewhat embarrassing.
> Instead of Several High wheel bikes there was one.Instead of a dozen hard tire
> safeties there were none. Instead of 50 or more stingray and muscle bikes
> there
> were 2, Instead of two hundred balloon tire bikes on the lawn there were 3.
> The laser like focus on European road bikes while great for CR list readers
> was overall far too myopic to help expand the education of the general public
> regarding "all things" bicycle. For one thing you have to have the general
> public there and they weren't. Usually lots and lots of "lay" people come to
> the
> shows bringing bicycles they have carted in their cars and vans and looking
> for informed appraisals. At this show I did manage to see and make an offer on
> a model 65 Columbia shaftdrive from the late 1800's.
> In the past however I was able to sell all day and still have trouble fitting
> everything back in the cube van as many, many buying opportunities presented
> themselves all day long.
> The fact is, the swap meet brings people to the show. Though an attempt was
> made to have a seperate swap elsewhere the day before, the show's draw was not
> strong enough to sustain one days worth of activity let alone two.
> The museum needs to decide whether the event is going to be a narrowly
> focused slice of the bicycle pie or a broad spectrum event that is not just
> preaching to the choir. One way to insure broad attendence is to make it worth
> it.
> To the hundreds and hundreds of familiar faces that were not there on Sunday,
> It clearly wasnt worth it.
>
> This is not to take away anything from the beautiful display of Road bikes.
> The examples were spectacular. But man can not live on caviar alone.
>
> BikeMike in Boston
> http://www.nostalgiamerchants.com
>
> In a message dated 8/9/04 8:40:22 PM, classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org
> writes:
>> Steven Maasland
>>
>> Moorestown, NJ
>>
>>
>>
>> PS: If I have forgotten any award, please do correct me.
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
I agree with this 100%. I wish that Peter and Maurice would find a new venue that would allow the swap meet.
Jamie Swan
Centerport Cycles
Northport, N.Y.