Thanks for the welcoming remarks
Thanks guys...I rode in Ithaca while attending Cornell before transferring to UT Austin 78' to 82' which was less than 1/2 the tuition. When registering for class in the "Drum" a large stadium as 48,000 students attended I ran into my downstairs neighbor from Florida.
Austin had a thriving music and social scene...Liberty Lunch, Armadillo World headquarters, Steamboat 1864....great blues n jazz, rockabilly, ...I rode everywhere and cemented my love for riding... Had a black n yellow marinoni built with sl mains and 531 rears with super record and also had an Albert Eisentraut frame and a Tom Kellogg frame...back in the day we built social networks and would buy n sell bikes n frames, n parts within our social group. I had a good job so and good bike deals often came up for nice frames n wheels to flip. Italian bikes had the mystique but American frame builders were far more time spent on lug and tube end details, and the name on the frame was the actual builder...I did see a Colnago built by Ernesto once and it was beautiful.
The group I hung with had good connections to obtain used japanese track bikes and I had a 3rensho that accelerated and handled, but lusted after funky looking Zunow that had a unique mono seat stay...
I was lucky to ride with a group of people in Austin, which included John Howard on occasion who would bring other fast buddies to the ride. Austin had heat, hills and wind! And great riding buddies! I have fond memories of that time in my life.