Well, my only comment to your story is about the store, not the bike (which
really needs no comment as we are all here because we "get" Rivendell and
the beauty of the bicycle, although I continue to delight in such
anecdotes). Sprouts is a "healthy" (I use quote marks because all stores of
this ilk sell plenty that is not healthy), that started in Arizona (HQ in
Phoenix). Its full name is Sprouts Farmers Market and it chooses to open in
markets not served by Whole Foods which only opens in affluent
neighborhoods. I shopped WF for thirty years (starting in a tiny Palo Alto
WF) and now live in a city (Prescott) where the WF closed after the lease
ran out on the New Frontier Natural Marketplace location that WF purchased
in 2014 (WF purchased three of their five locations; Flagstaff and Sedona,
AZ are beautiful thriving stores. The family-owned chain kept the locations
in Sovang and Santa Maria, the latter of which has subsequently been sold
to WF). I have been shopping at Sprouts since they opened a locations in
northern California, and with my move to Arizona, I have access to more of
them than WFs (speaking of which, the WF in north Scottsdale, about 100
miles from Prescott, is arguably the best WF I have been in; the ones in
Ann Arbor, MI are shameful). WF has Sprouts beat in prepared foods hands
down, but Sprouts has the best supplement and vitamin department I have
even been in, and all also had very knowledgeable staff.
On Saturday, July 8, 2017 at 6:22:33 PM UTC-7, Patrick Moore wrote:
>
> ... [even if] you are pushing it through the Saturday afternoon crowd in
> the narrow aisles of a discount Trader Joe's/Whole Foods clone (Sprout's;
> formerly Sunflower, until the owner of the latter got nailed for
> naughtiness of some sort).
>
> I was pushing the '03 through the crowded aisles of Sprouts Corrales this
> early afternoon; old ladies looks askance as if I'm dangerous; young
> matrons sniff and shove past; you are buttonholed everlastingly by the odd
> old codger.* But I had leaned the bike against the cheese island, for
> forays to the west end of the bulk aisle and north to the sodium nitrate
> (sausage and so forth) case, and west and south to the drinks section.
> ("Drinks" -- wine, beer, spirits -- the fizzy rotgot is far to the east.)
>
> I came back to home base and a young 40-something with potbelly was
> staring pensively at the Riv. He saw me and asked, "Is that a Raleigh"? I
> said, "No" and explained about small northern CA builder, had several
> customs, blah blah blah, and he replied, "I thinks bikes are just so
> beautiful." At which point I launched into my screed about how sure, the
> lugs are nice, and man, you should have seen the original $800 (?) paint
> job before Dave and Chauncey altered the frame and I had it powdercoated;
> and that the signature Riv feature is the fit, handling, ride.
>
> And that's not all! Down by the dairy case, a youngster, red headed lad
> all of 11 or 12, piped up and said, "Neat bike!"
>
> Bah! to all you frightened old ladies and hard faced soccer moms!**
>
> * Tho' I've had some very interesting conversations when buttonholed by
> old has-beens -- stock car racers, spies, fantasists ...
>
> **I generally lock it outside at busy times, but I had forgotten the lock.
> I do conscientiously defer to the old beldames (despite a tendency
> adequately described my my brother's retort to an old lady in line at the
> checkout, way back when and far far away, when she was being rude: "Just
> because you're old doesn't mean you have to be nasty".)
>
> --
> Resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, and letters that get interviews.
> By-the-hour resume and LinkedIn coaching.
> Other professional writing services.
> http://www.resumespecialties.com/
> www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmooreresumespec/
> Patrick Moore
> Alburquerque, Nouvelle Mexique, Vereinigte Staaten
> **************************************************************************
> **************
>
>
>
>
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