May 2nd to May 9th if free dumping week in Thunder Bay. I always spend the entire week at the Dump scavenging bikes. Last year I got 103 bicycles in a single week. The year before about a dozen. With this in mind, I will spend the next few days keeping a record of what happens at the Dump this week. Each day I will report any finds or unusual incidents. Assuming of course that anyone is interested.

Two years ago it poured rain throughout most of FDW. Not many people took advantage of the freebie thanks to the weather. I did, however, get a really nice modified Peugeot with a Phil Wood Flip-Flop hub and a set of Cinelle Bullhorns. A nice Nishiki Landeau showed up and a couple of Peugeots. Other than that, I can't recall anything else of any worth at all.

Last year was a hoot. 103 bikes in eight days. Not all of them were Ten Speeds since I was also collecting for Bicycles for Humanity. Many of those 103 bikes now do their thing in Africa serving health care workers and the like in their quest to help people with Aids. But there were a few really nice bicycles that came my way including an eighties something Holdsworth, a really nice Peugeot "Course" which I added immediately to my personal collection, a near mint 50cm Fiori, a gorgeous Schwinn Mixte, a cosmetically challenged Miele and a eighties someting Gitane that was again near mint.

Yesterday, armed with a box of crackers, a couple of bananas, an apple and a large bottle of water, I headed off to the Dump for the beginning of free dumping. Though day one of FDW (free dump week) is usually slow, I wanted to go anyway. The only thing that showed up was a very old and horribly dilapidated old roadster from the 40s or 50s.

In the six hours I had to spend at the Dump yesterday not one Ten Speed showed up and this is incredibly unusual. Normally about a dozen or more would have been dropped of each day. More FDW results tomorrow.