For bikes, nostalgia, history, foreign cultures, etc etc, I recommend the old "Don Camillo" series by Giovanni Garueschi, set in the Po Valley over the 15 years or so after WWII, with background the political and cultural fight between the old landed conservatives and the Communists. The protagonist, Don Camillo, whose sympathies are with the poor working class, is a thug of a priest who of course rides a bike, and is alternately a good friend of and at fisticuffs with the Communist mayor, Peppone. There is one story of a not very bright Peppone henchman whose only interest is professional racing, which relates how he daily rides his racing bike 15 miles into the nearest city to pick Gazzetta dela Sport, and rides back -- the only interesting part of his day. Because he knows the mfr of Coppi's rear wheel bearings and who lent Maes a wheel in the '47 Giro, he becomes a national sports quiz sensation, for about 72 hours.
The young communist rank and file are known for their *louche* ways, including the "American Stop" which involves sliding off the saddle and using the seat of their coveralls to stop the bike. Don Camillo is recognized for his fists as much as his piety, and is always taking rebukes from our Lord for such things as reforming a young thug with a good drubbing. Interesting view of immediately post war, peasant, and very poor Italy. http://www.italianways.com/peppone-don-camillo-and-stucchi-bicycles/ [image: Inline image 1] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
