List, Holy Cannolli Moeley!! Da ya believe dis guy? WOW! Mattie, you do'n a heck of a job. Your "boss" must be proud! Youse guys are gonna have a GREAT time. Repeat. Repeat again
Soon to post more vintage stuff for sale, Auction news, and no more "atta boys".
John T.Pergolizzi San Diego, Ca. Despoto Omnipotente
P.S: Vintage news: Saw a guy riding the other day wearing a "Skid Lid" helmet. But there was something different; he had mounted a flat plastic pie plate on the top to protect his nogg'n from the sun. Or maybe to add that little extra crash protection in the middle? Very funky look'n. Cool. ____________________________________________________ Mattie Bowne, The L'Assistente al Despota Onnipotente, wrote:
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls! (and this being New York City...Every thing In Between!):
As all of you know by now, The BVVW group (a tangent of Gruppo Sportivo P ergolizzi) is comprised of about 25 hardcore certified velo-freaks, who h angout and talk bike stuff every now and again. As discussed at our last g athering at Dave Perry's Bike Works, I have been planning some other acti vities for the group to share this summer including but not limited to ride s, studio visits, Polish sausages, bicycle museums, match sprints , etc.
Below is a list of upcoming events that I hope you can share with The Gang.
-RIDE ALERT #1!!!
THIS SATURDAY, JULY 12th
My apologies for the short notice, as this took shape quickly and while I was away from the computer...A casual "vintage ride" has just been planned for this weekend. Of course any and all bikes/riders welcome. Michael Al lison, an NYC cyclist for 50+ years, will lead us from Central Park on a trip up the lush and green west side of the Hudson River Valley to the to wn of Piermont. We'll stop there for lunch and picnic at a little park on the Hudson and head back to the mean streets of NYC. The route is yet to b e determined but will likely be some combo of 9W and all of the small and s leepy suburban streets that Michael has discovered over the years. He has provided for us the following details:
"Join fellow classic bike fans for a leisurely ride to Piermont, New York . Meet at the Boat House parking lot in Central Park at 8:00AM. The ride is about 60 miles round trip, taking us over the George Washington bridge a nd north along secondary roads. Once over the bridge we'll ride through e xclusive Englewood Heights to ogle the starter mansions of the rich then on to Piermont for lunch on the banks of the Hudson River. This small town, a mecca for New York area cyclists, has several restaurants, a great d eli and a high quality bike shop. The entire route is relatively flat excep t for one challenging hill on the western slope of the Palisades as we retu rn to the bridge."
-RIDE ALERT #2!!!
SATURDAY, JULY 19th
BVVW member Scott Gordon has been planning a group ride out to the Metz Bic ycle Museum in New Jersey. Route/mileage/rendezvous/timing details to foll ow next week. This ride will be closer to the 70-80 miles and likely a slightly faster pa ce than this Saturday's. We will joined by a number of "non-vintage" types who are looking to share in a local group ride.
- VERY SPECIAL EVENT/MEETING!!!
SATURDAY, JULY 26th
A studio visit with Brooklyn artist/cyclist Taliah Lempert has been planned . For those of you who are not familiar with Taliah's work, she is the
talented woman behind http://www.bicyclepaintings.com . Taliah gave a presentation at Le Cirque a bout 3 years ago. She has made a name for herself by lovingly painting gorgeous portraits of bicycles, many off which are "on topic" vintage lightweights. Taliah pai nts friend's bikes, does custom commissions and has even had studio sitti ngs by bikes ridden by Greg Lemond, Andy Hempsten and Connie Carpenter ju st to name a few. This will be a rare opportunity to glimpse into the work ing studio of a young New York painter who contributes greatly to our commu nity. I encourage you all to make it out! After a brief studio tour, we will take a look at paintings both completed and in-progress and will have a chance to ask Taliah about her studio practice and life as an artist in NYC. We will conclude our visit by taking a brief walk through Williamsbur g, Brooklyn and heading to the Radegast Biergarten (http://www.radegastha ll.com/), where there will be enough Brats and Beer to feed our large arm y of bike nuts. Meeting location and time to follow in a group email shortly. Expect to me et mid-day, talk for an hour or so and then head to the Radegast for an a fternoon brat and beer.
- NEXT MEETING!!! I am planning an upcoming meeting with a presentation by a couple of member s about the history of framebuilding in NYC. We might even get some visual aides (pics AND perhaps a bike or two?) I'm hoping that I can ask those of you with knowledge about this rich tradition to share anything you know abo ut Power, Drysdale, Brennan, Corky, etc. Please contact me if you think you might like to contribute. Early to mid August.
- KISSENA VELODROME DAY!!! Jamie Swan had a great idea and suggested that a BVVW gathering at the loca l track might be great opportunity for us to gather for a ride. People wit h or without track experience should feel welcome, just come prepared wit h a fixed-gear bike! We'll likely discuss the history of the Kissena Velod rome (in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens) as well as basic riding tips, t rack safety and etiquette. It's about time we let the old track iron stret ch it's legs where it really ought to! Still deciding on a date/time, as we have to contend with scheduled races and training sessions. A Saturday morning is likely.
Stay tuned...Hope to see you Saturday. Or the next! Or the next!