I live along the Mississippi River near LaCrosse, Wisconsin. This past
weekend I happened to be riding my orange Sammy when I stopped at the
trailhead to the Sparta Elroy Bike trail near La Crosse. I came to a
sudden stop in front of about 9 guys resting in the shade, one of whom said
immediately (referring to me) "well he'll fit right in". Then I started
looking at their bikes: all wide tired, loaded down for touring, fenders,
steel, lugs, etc. There was a nice Sam Hillborne and Atlantis in the lot
of them. We had the best conversation talking bikes. What fun. I felt a
real kinship. I learned the boys were riding from Dubuque, Iowa to (I
don't know where they were eventually headed) along the Mississippi River
Trail. I wish i'd gotten a name or 2. I encouraged them to post their
ride on this blog. Hope they do. I would say we all have a debt of
gratitude to Grant Petersen.
Tim Petersen (no relation)
On Saturday, July 8, 2017 at 8:22:33 PM UTC-5, 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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