[CR]Postings bring back intense memories (almost 3-D)

(Example: Framebuilding:Tubing:Falck)

To: Dale Brown <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
From: "Jon Spangler" <hudsonspangler@earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2008 14:25:37 -0700
Subject: [CR]Postings bring back intense memories (almost 3-D)

Dear CR readers,

In the days since I joined this list, I have been astounded at the intensity of the memories and sensations that come flooding back when I read the postings.

When Nick asked for a Simplex LJ derailleur, I suddenly remembered working on mine and how smoothly it shifted ("better than Campi," as the guys at Collins Cycle Shop said) on my champagne-green Peugeot PX-10 LE. Along with that comes the visual memory of the gorgeous gold-anodized Mafac 2000 brakeset on that bike.Mmmm, good!

The various postings about Raleigh Pros brought back hundreds of miles of ride memories, the tactile senses of working and riding on the bikes, the visual memory of the frame tubes (paint and decals) sparkling in the sunlight, the glint of the once-new and shiny Campagnolo Nuovo Record components (my first NR gruppo), and, of course, the sights, smells, and feel of my prized broken in and initially-black-turned-honey-brown Brooks Pro saddle (lost to a thief, alas)...

There is something about the multifaceted intensity of bicycling and bikes themselves (as objects and as an activity) that causes this flood of intense, almost tactile memories, and I love it.

No wonder we are so passionate about this love of ours. (And thank God I married a cyclist! :-)

Gratefully yours,

Jon Spangler

hudsonspangler@earthlink.net

Alameda, California USA
(on the Left Coast)