Greetings campers and swap zombies
So there I was, a very last minute decision to hit the road, throwing a few critical items in the car bright and surly Friday morning, cleaning the deer butt fur and other debris off the hood and grill of the Kavorkian-mobile after a late Thursday night encounter with yet another suicidal Bambi, (just a little tip from your ol Uncle Lar. Buy a red car.), pondering the horrors of 11 hours driving through the Great Midwestern corn/soybean wasteland again, just to return to the old spawning grounds. Not my idea of a good time, but I went anyway. Obviously I was motivated by a more primal force. Bike SWAP ! Trick or treating for vintage bike parts. Ill drive.
Too tired/lazy/late to gather a new assortment of tunes, so just drove off with whatever was still in the car from the previous long strange trip, wherever that was, whenever that was. Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream. Perfect. "Comfortably numb. Welcome to the machine. And by the way, which one's Pink?"
Kinda scary showing up at the swap only an hour before opening and being second in line. My comment to the woman who had arrived only moments before me was something like Obviously youre a veteran swapper. To which she replied, Yeah, flew in from Denver. Where IS everybody?! We were the whole line for a while, swapped a few war stories, and welcomed the other two people who eventually showed up fashionably early. (Couldnt get anybody interested in the vintage lightweight thing though. Probably for the best.). The event staff still outnumbered the people in line until almost 9AM. That was just weird, but hey, IM not gonna tell the Chicago crowd maybe they should show up earlier. They'll figure it out on their own, someday. First familiar face inside the door was the lovely and talented Jan Johnson. Caged in her ticket booth most of the day, but I bet she rummaged through the loot before she was locked up. Almost immediately crossed paths with Tom Hayes who had snuck in behind me, and then a few other familiar faces I really hadnt expected would be silly enough to drive as far as they did, but I was glad they did. And met a few new ones. Most have already been mentioned, or checked in themselves. Always a fun day with the kooks.
Went with no expectations, but I know there was a lot of nice bike stuff floating around the area in the early 70s, (or maybe I just hallucinated it all......). Some of it has to still be there. Figured if I didnt go, I wouldnt know. Didnt find the Bob Jackson frame I lusted for in Licktons in 70/71, so I'll have to come back next year. And nothing there appropriately lugged in my size or price range. But did find a Carlton pump that will fill that empty space on one of the heaps. Some other little odds & ends I could certainly live without, but they were there, and I was there. Yet another addition to the freewheel cog vice collection. I don't know why, other than maybe a fascination with the endless variety. And after a summer spent keeping my riders on the road by scavenging every barely usable tire off the bat-bikes that hang from the rafters, and having flats my last two rides, was very happy to find an armful of quality NEW tires for reasonably cheap. New hoofies for the high mileage heaps.
Family and friends all had pneumonia or the next best thing, so we decided not to share. We bid an early farewell with a cough, a sneeze, and a wave of a snotty kleenix, and it was time for another 11 fun-filled hours behind the wheel. Freakiest sign seen along the way was in Indianapolis. Even in the daze I was in on the way up, this one jumped out at me. I checked it again on the return trip, just to make sure I saw what I thought I saw. Hemorrhoid Center PLUS. The mind boggles. Questions just leap to mind, but thats already more than I want to know. Could make an amusing cycling jersey if they wanted to sponsor a team or club.......
Support your local swap Larry just another click in the pawl Osborn Morgantown WV