I'd like to add my thanks to Dan and Barb for being such gracious hosts. I realize that for the past two years, when Dan hosted the ride, the weather was less cooperative. This year though - what a great day!
Few things in life could be finer than a convivial vintage ride on a beautiful sunny day - followed by a nice repast and entertainment. What those things might be though, completely escape me for the moment. I guess it would have been even more enjoyable if a few more participants had been able to make it - but that might have meant feeling guilt about taking a second brat. ;-)
It was great to see everyone who came. All the bikes were worth seeing, or seeing again, and I must say, Peter's kit and lovely Peugeoy made it appear we'd been joined by a time traveler.
One story to share about the ride. After having lost Jim and Wayne to the missed turn, I set off on the gently three mile rise along the final stretches of the ride. Gary was right behind me, and I presumed everyone else was as well. When we made the turn off the road, I looked back, and found nobody else was in sight. About a quarter mile later, we turned onto the newly-paved road that makes for that really nice downhill. Gary and I were moving along pretty well. Not going all out, but not exactly taking it easy either.
Perhaps a half mile into the descent, a rider went rocketing by us. I've always considered myself to be the human equivalent of a brick, and I immediately kicked my bike into high gear (I won't spoil the story mentioning that my high was 40-14), and gave chase. Even if I had 53-12 gearing, there would have been no catching Dan. Flying down the winding, wooded road gave a tremendous sensation of exhiliration. I felt kind of like we were in a speeder chase on Endor.
I had a great time, and I hope that now there are a few people saying to themselves "I wish I had gone". I look forward to seeing more of you at the next edition.
Best regards,
John (claiming polka dots on the day) Barry Mechanicsburg, PA, USA
> We had a lovely day for a pretty ride in the
\r?\n> country, just hot enough to
\r?\n> look for shade while waiting to regroup, but just
\r?\n> lovely with the wind
\r?\n> in your face. And it was a nice intimate crowd that
\r?\n> made it a easy to
\r?\n> keep together. Wayne Bingham was first to arrive,
\r?\n> with John Barry
\r?\n> coming soon after. Wayne brought his green Baylis,
\r?\n> always a stunner.
\r?\n> John had the oldest bike, the 1952 JA Holland he'd
\r?\n> brought to Cirque
\r?\n> this year, lot's of patina, but it sure was pretty!
\r?\n> My biking buddy
\r?\n> Gary Gentry came next riding his Litespeed (his
\r?\n> vintage fixed Motebecane
\r?\n> inappropriate for this terrain). Peter Kohler and
\r?\n> Ken Sanford were
\r?\n> next, Ken on his Gillot, and Peter riding his 1969
\r?\n> PX-10 with full
\r?\n> Peugeot racing kit in honor of Bastille Day and
\r?\n> Tommy Simpson. Larry
\r?\n> Osborn was next, coming the farthest distance with a
\r?\n> really sweet
\r?\n> Eisentraut Limited that he'd owned for years.
\r?\n> Finally arriving were two
\r?\n> local friends, James Sheridan, and Al Barrett.
\r?\n> Jim's been doing these
\r?\n> rides here for a few years on fixed gear,
\r?\n> alternating between his
\r?\n> DiBernardi track bike and an Ibis Scorcher, finally
\r?\n> last year using a
\r?\n> front brake. This year he'd brought a mountain bike
\r?\n> converted to city
\r?\n> riding for our hills. And Al, a retired bicycle
\r?\n> sales rep for the
\r?\n> Baltimore/Washington area, had his old tourer w/
\r?\n> biopace rings.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> The group climbed out of our valley, and we started
\r?\n> to level off a bit
\r?\n> after the first half mile with folks pairing off to
\r?\n> chat. John Barry
\r?\n> with the highest low gear and James were leading the
\r?\n> pack attacking
\r?\n> every grade. About three miles in, Gary heard a bit
\r?\n> of metal tinking on
\r?\n> the paving and searched and found the pedal dust cap
\r?\n> from John's
\r?\n> Holland. Finger tightened we continue'd the ride on
\r?\n> quiet roads. We
\r?\n> rolled through a small lake community having a
\r?\n> neighborhood yard sale,
\r?\n> commenting on the bikes for sale. And then along
\r?\n> Strawberry Road,
\r?\n> through the neighborhood of Beatle's fans, Abbey
\r?\n> Rd., Penny La., etc.
\r?\n> We stopped at a local bike shop in New Freedom to
\r?\n> tighten John's pedal
\r?\n> cap, and cruised the back room with the owner
\r?\n> showing us his vintage
\r?\n> stuff, trade ins with virtually no mileage, a silver
\r?\n> Alan, perfect
\r?\n> Raleigh 3 speeds, and an interesting belt drive
\r?\n> unusual suspension
\r?\n> hybrid. The folks waiting outside had a longer rest
\r?\n> stop than they
\r?\n> expected while we disappeared into the shops bowels.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Back on the bikes we rolled out of town, down a
\r?\n> lovely roller through
\r?\n> the corn fields and back up a slow grinder to the
\r?\n> ridge. We were to
\r?\n> turn onto a really pretty road Peter once compared
\r?\n> to the English
\r?\n> countryside, a somewhat blind turn in the middle of
\r?\n> the hill. Wayne was
\r?\n> getting into his stride at that point and rolled
\r?\n> into the lead and was
\r?\n> out of sight before the ride leader as always,
\r?\n> leading from behind,
\r?\n> could get his attention. He and James were gone.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I waited a minute or so, but they weren't coming
\r?\n> back, so I tried to
\r?\n> catch the peloton. We regrouped at the next
\r?\n> intersection and climbed
\r?\n> the last short, steep climb, and were soon heading
\r?\n> homeward along the
\r?\n> ridge with only a few miles to go. The last four
\r?\n> miles are mostly
\r?\n> downhill with the last two and a half an absolute
\r?\n> roller coaster with
\r?\n> some hairpins thrown in. And fresh smooth paving
\r?\n> that replaced one of
\r?\n> the crappiest, badly patched road surfaces in the
\r?\n> county. I know the
\r?\n> road so well I was off spinning as fast as I could
\r?\n> and soon was by
\r?\n> myself. But everyone was enjoying that finish. Jim
\r?\n> was there within a
\r?\n> minute or so of the rest and Wayne showed up a few
\r?\n> minutes later. Wayne
\r?\n> was remembering the ride of two years ago finishing
\r?\n> in the rain and
\r?\n> having to ride the brakes all the way down. This
\r?\n> was what biking's
\r?\n> about!
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Barb had the grill fired up within minutes and a big
\r?\n> spread for the
\r?\n> hungry riders. The dogs were soon ready, and the
\r?\n> drinks were cold!
\r?\n> John helped me pull out a couple of bikes from the
\r?\n> basement to line the
\r?\n> railing and we brought up a few of our riders bikes.
\r?\n> The tour was on
\r?\n> TV, and people started to get comfortable. My bike
\r?\n> shop had the best
\r?\n> cleaning it's had in almost two years and everyone
\r?\n> got a look. Life is
\r?\n> good! I hardly felt that I'd talked to everyone
\r?\n> enough when folks
\r?\n> started to be off! Can't wait for the next ride.
\r?\n> Who's is next?
\r?\n>
\r?\n> In the excitment John Barry left his camera here, he
\r?\n> was the only one
\r?\n> taking photos. I'd carried my camera along the
\r?\n> whole ride without
\r?\n> pulling it out once, too much fun. He's honored me
\r?\n> with allowing the
\r?\n> downloading of those photos, so here they are posted
\r?\n> for all to see.
\r?\n> http://sports.webshots.com/album/559886921ygXJin
\r?\n> He's really taken
\r?\n> some nice shots. Thanks John and all who came for
\r?\n> the ride. I sure had
\r?\n> a good time.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Happy trails,
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Dan Artley in Parkton, Maryland