Drillium Dude 

Everybody's got at least one and I wanna hear it. Can be about anything (crappy Ebay/CL experience, epic bike ride, how you met your significant other, what your kid/pet/spouse/relative did today...) as long as there is some reference to cycling/a bike in it, of course. We have to keep this OT or be banished to foo

So, tell your stories - if nothing else, perhaps they'll be cathartic reading during the upcoming winter months while we're off the bikes and cooped up indoors. Multiple posts are encouraged.

Think of this as the written version of the "Everyday Pics" thread

DD

RobbieTunes

I see an ad on CL for a Schwinn road bike, $80. I drive 50 miles, and it's a 564 Aluminum, components rusted, but OK. I freely fork over the money, and we get to talking. He's had the bike since new. He's 58 years old, and is dying of a brain tumor. I am immediately glad I freely forked over the money. I take it home, and tear it down, build it up with 2x7 105, clean and mean, red with white letters, saddle, bar tape, housing. Up it goes on CL, for a whopping $150 (break-even price). A young kid drives 2 hours from the coast; he's in the Coast Guard, 20 years old, pretty little girl with him is his wife, they have a 1-year old in the back seat. He wants to do his first triathlon, needs a bike. $125 gets the bike, a set of tri-bars, 3 spare tubes, 2 spare tires, a set of Looks, cleats, my spare shoes, and a helmet. You don't mess with bike kharma, dude.

noglider 

Nicely done, @RobbieTunes.

RobbieTunes

My brother-in-law gets his Marin Verona (Columbus TSX, 105 triple 9sp) stolen. I say, offer $100 on flyers; he gets it back. It gets stolen again, he files an insurance claim, nets $1500 or so (had replacement cost, I guess), after deductible. He joins a "club" that reveres Rivendell, Birkenstock bike sandals, tweed, and wicker. They laugh at his "fake" Cinelli, the silver Centurion Equipe. He comes to me, we find a painter named Porkchop (400+) and he does it up in leftover Enzo paint, we build it back up, and he silences his critics. A year later, he's on a charity ride. They roll off, and he's slow and steady, settles in while the pack leaves him. A rider who got there late approaches from the rear, pulls even, and starts telling my brother-in-law about the Cinelli/Centurion. Said bro-in-law is fairly astonished; the other rider casually says "I saw your bike on the internet. Really nice bike, man," and rides away. My brother-in-law stayed high on that for a long while.

noglider 

I was collecting bikes from the police auctions and didn't know what I was going to do with them. This was before I started selling bikes. One went to a woman recovering from alcohol and drug addiction. She had lost custody of her own son, but he was nearby with her sister. She had a job but no car or license, so I gave her the bike so she could get around town. She's doing very well now, and her son is back with her.

I also gave one to a guy who posted on craigslist that he was unemployed and needed a free bike.

RobbieTunes

Short stories:

Charity ride on country roads. Only about 150 riders. I'm with my '87 Paramount, just another rider. A rider on carbon comes up, and says "for my entire teenage and college years, that's all I ever wanted." This draws a mini-crowd, some with the same sentiment. They ride away from me, of course. At the end, free burgers, with chili. A lady comes over, says, "that is the only bike here with silver spokes," and walks away. My riding partner says "dude, what is it with you?"

Charity ride in yuppie country. Probably 650 riders. I'm with my Miami Vice Ironman, polished Vento wheels with fuscia decals to match the bike, gold wrap and saddle, and housing, and pedals to match the bike. I park it at rest stops, and sit back. It continues to be surrounded by female riders, every time. I get more attention than the Fig Newtons.

Charity ride in yuppie country. 500 riders or so. We're going down a hill, and a cute girl is on a Miyata 912, we're gettin' it pretty good down a gradual hill. A couple of us on steel ride up and say "nice bike, glad to see another real bike here.' "My other bike's in the shop; this is all I had to ride," she says. Chagrin. Same ride, we're waiting to start, a guy is there on a Nishiki Prestige, all chrome and beautiful paint, like new. BF's roccobike and I stagger our way through the crowd, compliment his beautiful bike. He shrugs and says "I don't even own a bike; my friend let me use this old thing." Not a good day for the C&V ego.

Charity ride near UNC. I come upon a Centurion Turbo, but it's not labeled, and it's been repainted Carolina blue. The rider had a thread on here where he sent step by step through the complete tear-down and rebuild, even had Carolina blue wristbands on the hubs. BF member lsdmt is there with me; we're on Ironman bikes, and we ride next to him, recounting his thread and the rebuild, step by step. By this time, his riding companions start to move away from two creepy guys. We park at a rest stop, lay down the Ironman bikes, and get something to drink. We get back to our bikes to find two other guys begin to argue with each other about Centurion Ironman bikes.

Giacomo 1 

Great stuff guys!

Another charity ride story. My wifes employer, a bank, rides for Cystic Fibrosis every year. You can pick the miles you want to do, 32, 62 or 100. I sign-up for the 62 miler because my wife assures me that her bank team, which are the only people I know there and am supposed to be riding with, will all be going that distance. Well, I get to the start line and I'm looking around, and the bank team is all just sitting around. I ask them why they aren't lining up and they all tell me their only going 32 miles and won't be starting for awhile! Now I'm in a bit of a panic because I'm about to do 5 hrs or better of riding by my lonesome.

Well, I'm a chatterbox and I know I'm going to suffer if I don't make a friend or two, so I'm riding along, trying to chat it up with other riders, but most have friends with them and can't really be bothered. Not rude or anything, just busy with their friends. Finally after about 15 miles in, I find 2 guys who are really friendly and receptive to my lame opening line, and we seem to be on the same pace, so I'm in! We went the rest of the way together, had a great time, good conversation, same age and it even winds up we live in the same neighborhood!

So not only was I the hero of the bank team for going the 62 miles instead of 32, I met two riders who I am still going out riding with on weekends and now consider good friends!

Bianchigirll 

Back when I lived up near Boston, one Sunday I showed up for the early season ride with the team. As I was getting my act together to ride bike check floor pump check helmet check water bottles check powerbar check M&Ms CHECK shoes che.... shoes....shoes? SHOES!!!

Yep I had my fancy look pedals and no shoes. I ended struggling off the back, not unusual anyway, with my white Brooks hightops. One of the guys commented that I looked like an aerobics instructor on her way to work. Needless to say after a 30 mile the balls of my feet were a little tender for a few days.

daf1009

Got ta make ya feel good!

daf1009

Ok...wow...stories...like many of you...I could do this thread over and over...but here is a good one...

One of my goals is to ride a metric century in every state (10 down, 40 to go)...my "rules" around the ride...has to be an "organized" or charity ride, must have a distance of at least 60 miles (so many get that 100 km thing wrong), it must provide a t-shirt (you gotta have proof of doing it!) and, the state that it "counts" for is the state that it starts in (several of my rides have been into multiple states, but, it is where they start that counts).

So, while living in NE, I was desperately trying to find a ride for Rhode Island. Finally, I found one...Miles for Megan...a charity ride for a little girl that battled Leukemia...beating it twice before finally succumbing to the disease. She was one tough little lady, wish I had met her...but...the story part...

As I am driving down to this ride, a two hour drive, it is raining...and I do not start a ride in the rain...might finish one, but not start one...I hate riding in the rain. So, mentally, I am preparing myself to turn in my donations and head back north. But, about 5 miles before I get there, the rain stops. Ok, mentally again, this is not good...I cannot justify not starting, but I know it is going to rain more (ugh) and I am already checked out of riding. But, I get there, it is not raining...so off we go. The entire 100K route goes without a hitch...it does not rain a drop on me. I am the LAST (yes, LAST) finisher...only about a dozen people did the 100K...and...when I finish, no rain. We get lunch, no rain, and head home.

Believe it or not...5 miles out from the starting area, it is raining again...and has been. I talk to my wife on the phone, she asks where I have been...told her I was riding...she said how, it has been raining all day! It rains on me for the entire drive back home. The next weekend, I am back down in Rhode Island for a swap meet, about 15 miles from the area of the ride. One guy comments to me that "it is a good thing that this is not last weekend"...I ask him why? He says "it would have rained out this swap meet...it must have rained 2" last Saturday!"

At this point, it is spooky...I swear that Megan reached down from heaven...and declared that "it will not rain on my ride!" And...I am glad she did!

scozim 

Back in 1985 when I was in college my dad came over to ride the local metric century. Rolling up to the start the group suddenly came to a stop. I was able to stop just fine. My dad, on the other hand, forgot to loosen the toe clip and did the slow fall to the left. I tried not to laugh and couldn't help. Instead had to act like I had no idea who he was. I was 19 after all.

gerv 

Nice...

elboGreaze

Great story 'Tunes , good on you !

icepick_trotsky 

About 6 months ago I decided to become a full-on cycling nerd, so I immediately signed up for the first race I could find, a 40k time trial. By the day of the race, I've barely trained at all, and this might be the farthest I've ever ridden in my life. I'm doing it on my 564, I might add, @RobbieTunes.

On race day, I show up and start riding a short warm-up. Pop, psssssssss...pinch flat. I hobble back to the parking lot to fix it before my start time. Of course I have no extra tubes, so I break out the patch kit. My patching skills at that point left something to be desired to say the least. Some older rider sees me struggling, takes pity on me, and gives me a new tube. I get it fixed and barely make my start time, but I make it.

It turns out that the tube is defective, and the valve keeps leaking air. Despite stopping several times along the way to reinflate, the tube is pretty under inflated the whole time, making the ride no fun at all. At about the halfway mark, it starts raining. And with less than 10k left, I hit a patch of loose gravel and go over the handlebars. I get pretty bad road rash on both palms (not wearing gloves) and up and down my left arm and leg. I manage to drag myself across the finish line bleeding, soaking wet, and on a totally flat tire. Most definitely the worst ride I've ever been on.

I've loved cycling ever since.

elboGreaze

So I buy an old Shogun 600, it's all beat up, lots of scratches but no notable rust or dents . Decent bike , Araya red label 700s , light action comps , Tange 900 . Great riding bicycle , I must say ! Put it up for sale on CL, I tell the young man over the phone that it has lots of scratches . He gets to my home and as he walks up to the Shogun, I comment again about the defects and he says " It's beautiful ! " Kind of made me feel good...

noglider 

Funny how cyclists associate suffering with love of the sport! But we do!

ascherer 

For a few years in the late 80's - early 1990's I was invited to be a "guest leader" for Vermont Bicycle Touring. I'd been on their 5-day inn-to-inn tours every year since 1980 and they needed to staff up for foliage season. I essentially got paid for my vacation - drive the sag wagon half a day, ride sweep the other half. It was great fun!

One summer my wife and I went to England for a driving tour. We started out of London after a couple of day's sightseeing. While we were in the city the food wasn't agreeing with her, but we found an out of the way Italian place on a side street in Kensington that sat well with her, so we went back for our last night in the city before heading into the countryside. We were seated at a table at the window where the menu was posted for passers-by. I noted a couple that stopped and looked, then went along. A few moments later they came back, entered the restaurant and were seated at the table next to us. I greeted them - they were customers from the tour I led the prior Autumn!

r0ckh0und 

Several years ago I travelled to Las Vegas to work for an extended period, about 5 months as it turned out. I was hoping for some ride opportunities so I brought my Gunner Rockhound MTB and my SS Surly Cross Check. It was my intention to attempt a wide variety of ride opportunities, as I am not much of a gambler. I ended up doing quite a lot of bouldering at Red Rock Canyon as well.

On one of my MTB rides out of Blue Diamond I had stopped to look over my map and drink some aqua.Shortly after I stopped a rather pleasant looking woman came riding up on a horse. As we exchanged greetings her horse began sniffing my pockets. As a puzzled look came across my face, she said "do not give him any of the candy in your pockets, it will only encourage him." Weird. ....and yes, I did have candy in my pockets.

I found some info on a local Sunday morning group ride. They met up at a coffee house, I forget the name. I was in my early 40s at the time and it turned out to be mostly older folks. The ride leader was in his early 80s as I remember it. I didn't really have a road bike to speak of and the 42/18 gearing on the Surly turned out to be suitable for this ride. The group stayed loosely together, for the most part a no drop ride. So one by one these folks would drift over to me throughout the course of the ride and politely ask "So hey, what's with the single speed". To this day I don't really have a good answer for them. We ended up doing about 38 miles that morning. There was a sprint finish towards the end that left me with the latter part of the group. This was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable rides I've ever been on.

One morning I decided to take the Surly on Red Rocks scenic 11 mile loop. The first half of this ride is absolutely brutal on single speed. The second half is pure heaven.

One of my Red Rock hikes was to the top of Turtle Peak (I think). Theres an ammo box at the top with a log book. You can sign in and jot down a few notes about your hike and where your from. It's about 20 miles west of Vegas and on a clear day it provides a great view of the city. There were a few others at the top when I was there. We took pictures for each other, some small talk and hydrating. After making it back to the trail head a woman stopped me and asked if I would mind taking a few pictures of their group. A class reunion group of 30-40 people. I obliged and as I returned her camera, about 20 cameras where hung on my arms. I obliged once again and by the time we were finished they were taking pictures of me with the group.

I did another bouldering hike on Red Rock trail. It became one of my favorites and one morning I got out particularly early after a snowfall This particular trail takes you up into small waterfall in an enclosed area. I was the first one in that morning as evidenced by the lack of footprints in the snow. It is the most peaceful and quiet place I have ever experienced, with the closed in area and the snow muffling the sounds.

I believe my references to bouldering is actually considered rock scrambling, which by the way, makes me feel like I'm about 10 years old again.

southpawboston

Not my story, but one of a friend and neighbor.

Had his crappy newish low-end Raleigh commuter stolen. It was U-locked to a sign post. The thieves unbolted the post, and stole the bike with the lock on it.

After reporting it to the local police, the police actually made an effort to track down the bike and an investigator was assigned to the case. He scanned CL, and sure enough, there was the bike. It was advertised as needing to have the lock removed, since the owner had "lost the key". As a result, he was offering it "cheap".

The police investigator asked the real owner, my friend, for the key to the U-lock. He contacted the seller, and arranged to see the bike, bringing the key with him. When he saw the bike, he asked a bunch of questions, such as how long the seller had owned it (since new!). Then the police investigator tried the key, and it unlocked the lock. Cuffed the guy.

The bike was returned to its rightful owner, but the sad ending is that the seller had his day in court, and got off because it couldn't be proven that he was the one who had actually stolen the bike.

Chrome Molly

As an indoor cycling instructor I see lots of people that have a goal (weight loss, a big ride, etc). Two years ago I met a woman early in the winter that had never really ridden more than a mile or two on local bike paths. Her goal was to do the RAGBRAI. I admit when we did the first organized outdoor spring ride of the season, I wasn't so sure that she would do it. She took about 6 hours to do a relatively flat metric century, but I waited around to cheer her on at the end (which she said meant a lot to her). She did the RAGBRAI and has done it every year since.

It's always nice to run into people on rides like the MS150.

Really not much for stories, but I like being part of people meeting their goals in some small way.

nesteel 

Bad job on the prosecutors part. We had our canoe stolen, along with the neighbor. Son found them on CL, we called the police who asked us for identifying marks. We provided some pics of it showing some unique aspects of it. Police set up to look at the canoes with the CL seller, and I.D.'ed them as ours and the neighbors. Prosecutor made it quite simple: give up who you got them from or you get prosecuted for receiving stolen property. CL seller ended up pleading guilty to receiving stolen property. Was the the thief? Don't know, but he sure wasn't the smartest guy.................

pastorbobnlnh 

I've been overweight pretty much my entire life. I've loved riding bikes since I got my first tricycle when I was about 4 and rode it up and down the alley behind my parents row house in Baltimore. Because I'm heavy, I pretty much came in last in every neighborhood race, whether on a bike or running. But this never stopped me from riding.

Fast forward about 51 years to this time last year. I had topped 300lbs when I discovered the ankle I thought I had sprained in August was actually a broken fibula. So I decided I needed to diet and I'm down 86lbs to 218 (at 6' 1" I'm still about 20lbs overweight but I'm no longer obese).

Here I am at 304 last October at the Cape Cod Rail Trail ride. Picture by @ScottRyder.


Sometime during the summer I heard there would be a race up a local mountain the end of September. Since I was climbing better, I thought, why not! So I began training on that very mountain since it is so close. Based on the times I was doing, I knew I would be in the back of the pack. But heck, I didn't care. Why not just have fun and enjoy the experience. I was certain others would be there to do the same.

Race day arrived. A few weeks before @BluesDaddy decided to also enter, and we decided to be pair on C&V red Schwinns. He rode an '86 Super Sport and I was on my '71 Paramount. We were quite amazed by the seriousness of the racers. We seemed like the only two there to simply "participate." We were also only two of three riders on steel (we spotted a modern Richie Logic). Every one else was on Carbon, Ti and a few aluminum frames mixed in for laughs.

Well I was 83rd out of 86. But--- at the midpoint I was dead last with no one in sight. This was the beginning of the really steep part and the final 3.5 mile push to the summit. As it turned out, I was able to pass and drop 3 riders on the way to the finish! Now that was a victory!

Here I am almost at the finish line.

r0ckh0und 

Well done sir!!!

CV-6 

While in college, I lived and worked off campus one summer. The work meant I had to ride up a pretty good hill on a fairly busy highway on the way home, often at 2AM. One night I am going up the hill and I hear tires behind me, slowing. I kind of cringe as I figured I was going to get a bottle thrown at me or some sort of harassment. Pickup pulls up beside me and paces me for about a minute. Now I am really nervous. Window comes down and I hear, "Twenty up this hill. Pretty damn good." And off he goes.

RobbieTunes

You go, Pastor Bob!

Early in my bike do-over, I decide to buy one of those newsprint "Trader" publications, maybe see a bike or two. There were two bikes in the whole issue, "Schwinn $20" in town, and "Pinarello Montello $1400 OBO" about 65 miles away. I had to look up Pinarello on line, check eBay, find out $1400 was really not a bad price. Ad said "mint." I pick up my son from elementary school, and we drive to the "Schwinn-$20," turns out to be a bright yellow Heavy-Duti with chrome fenders and pretty decent shape, all original. I give the guy $20 and ask him if I can pick it up later. He asks me "you want to leave it outside?" I said "sure, you did," and told him I'd be back.

I get back in the car, had to promise my son a lot more than a Happy Meal, because "we're going for a ride, kinda long, OK?" I call the Pinarello guy, elderly man answers, and says, "sure, it's here, I'm here, come on down." I figure he's selling it for his son.

I follow the directions, pull into an immaculate driveway/yard, US and POW-MIA flag flying on the flagpole, elderly black man on a lawn chair on the steps. I mention his race, only because of the rest of the story. Turns out the bike is his, an '89 Montello, never ridden, with '92 Campy running gear. He was, like me, a fan of Indurain, aka "Big Mig." I completely forgot I had a POW-MIA sticker on my car. We get to talking, and I have to ask, what was it like, being black and riding a bike on the country roads of eastern NC in his youth? I'd encountered my share of rednecks there in the 80's, much less the 60's or 70's, figured he'd received worse. His story:

"My friend Bob and I grew up together not far from here. We went to high school right after integration, and we were both on the 'wrasslin' team. We joined the Air Force when Vietnam came up, and we both got sent there. When we came back, we got into bikes and we rode together. Bob caught a lot of flack about riding with me, but he never paid it any attention. I got the bug when Indurain was riding so well, because I'm 6'3" and could relate to him. I bought the frame and the parts and built it up, then realized it was too small (56cm). It's never even spent a day in the garage, just the house. Nowadays, I ride a Cannondale hybrid, and so does Bob, but he's got some other road bikes, too. I want it to go to a good home, don't do the internet, but I think it's worth $1400."

Well, when I ran for Asics, in college, I was befriended by a guy named Bob. He decided I had talent, and formed a running team, backed a bit by Asics. He's forgotten more about running than I'll ever know. He was always trying to get me on a bike. He also was an Air Force vet, a high school wrassler, and he'd taken some heat for riding "with black guys." He was also in my wedding. I had to ask. "Would it be Bob F_ _ _ _ _ you're talking about?" In typical eastern NC vernacular, he replied "You know not!" which is a down East way of saying yes and you've got to be kidding at the same time. Miles and years apart, we had a friend in common, someone we both knew and counted as a true friend.

I decided to look at the bike. Mint. Ypsilon wheelset. Spare wheelset. Two Elite chrome cages, a new red helmet to match the bike. 2 USA water bottles, still in the package. $2500 today, and not a penny under $2000 then. Decals were immaculate (and if you know Pinarello, this means unridden). I tell him, "Mr. Garland (you always use their first name in eastern NC), I looked on the internet, and $1400 is the going rate for rough ones. You can get $2000 all day on eBay. I've never spent more than $356 on a bike, and I'm sure I can't afford this, but it's been sure good talking to you." He says "what can you offer?" I tell him, "I think I've got $800 in my checking account, so I can offer you $800, and we can go in the yard and wrassle for the rest." He said, "I told my wife I'd get more than $800, so if you can do $801, it's yours." I told him I'd drive to the nearest ATM and get it. He said "if you know Bob, your check is good with me." I wrote the $801, and began to put the bike on my rack. "Nope, he said, it rides inside or it stays here." I move my sleeping son to the front seat and the bike goes in the back.

The first person I had to call was Bob. He said they'd been run off the road several times over the years, until he took to carrying a holster that clearly showed the S&W 45 on his back. He said he hadn't seen Garland in a few years, and would run over there, now that they were both retired. He next said, "so, you think you can ride a bike now?" It was more of a statement of my ignorance than a question. One of my proudest days was when I entered a century he volunteered at, with a dark blue Centurion Semi Pro, re-done in Campy Ergo 8sp Chorus. It was beautiful, and I knew it. Bob took a look at it, and said "I suppose I'll tell Garland you know what you're doing around a bike." If anyone understands down East lingo, that's about as excited as they get.

When I think of bikes, and men, and Veteran's Day, I think of people like them, who fought wars at home and abroad, and came through with better character than most of us will ever have.