USAZorro

Even though it was missing quite a few folks who I thought would have been there no matter what, it was a lot of fun. With this being my 4th time going, I actually know about half the people there now - and seeing friends is always enjoyable. Wish I'd seen more people I know from here there.

From my wife's POV, this was a success. I left with five bicycles, and returned home with three. Some "kid" from Amherst got a pretty good deal on a F. Moser that I got as part of a trade with Gilberto last summer (it was just too large for me, and there's no way my son ends up with three bikes his size with as little riding as he does). The Maserati went to a good home, and half the proceeds to a good cause.

The rides: The Friday, Sheldon Brown memorial fixie ride was, indeed, fun - even if there were a few surprises. On Saturday, I may have set a Cirque record after bailing from two separate rides. Perhaps if I'd taken a lighter, racing bike, I would have toughed it out on the long ride, but I was looking to have fun - and getting spat out the back on a moderate hill just wasn't making me feel that the ride would turn out to be "fun". The new dirt road ride seemed like it would have been just the ticket, but the clearance between fender and tire was a perfect match for the size of the gravel on the route. There's now a little speck of tube peeking out of my Grand Bois front tire to serve as a memento. Next year, I'm taking one of the old Trek MTBs that spend most of their time sitting in the shed.

Auction: Not too many items, and despite pretty good attendance at the reception, bidding was way off. There were some serious deals had this year. I spent a little more than I should have on a B-15 I really didn't need, but that's ok. I also won the silent auction for a new set of Cycles Gitane team cards. I can't say they were my favorite team or anything, but there were a couple cards with Bernard Hinault on them, and it contained the cycling equivalent of Greg LeMond's "rookie card" (neither of which I realized when I bid). I thought that was a pretty cool acquisition, even though I'm not really into ephemera.

Presentations:

Hilary Stone gave an informative review of the Thanet marque. Those were some seriously weird bicycles.

Then David Herlihy gave a presentation with background information about his recently published book "Lost Cyclist", about an American cyclist who "disappeared" in eastern Turkey on an around the world ride in 1893 or 1894. Having read the account of the Englishman, Stevens, who completed his own "around the world" tour a few years previously on an ordinary, I was primed to find this rather interesting. I now have a signed copy of the book, and after one chapter, I must say, it promises to be quite a good read. David is very approachable, and not at all the stuffy sort who I always imagined wrote books of this sort.

The third presentation was by Mike Kone, who addressed a topic that's near and dear to many of us here - finding good values in parts and frames. Being a semi-enlightened cheapskate, I found this to be a bit more reinforcement than revelation, but it's refreshing to hear someone so closely associated with Rene Herse expound on this subject.

After dinner at the framebuilder's forum, Hilary Stone received the annual award for the person who's contributed the most to advance the hobby/interest/lifestyle. (Well deserved, and congratulations again, Hilary). Then Dave Boehm (Bohemian Cycles), spoke about how he got started in the career of framebuilding, and provided some interesting thoughts on a range of subjects - from how he brought his experiences as an artist and jeweler to bear as he progresses as a builder, to using natural pigments in paint, to a few other bits.

Jan Heine related how he came to know Ernest Czuka (late of Alex Singer Cycles), and shared a bit of insight to his life, both as a young man, and as a seasoned builder. There was some overlap with the article in the latest Bicycle Quarterly, but several other anecdotes that really did help to make us feel we had also made his acquaintance.

Brian Baylis talked about the International Framebuilder's show that will be seeing it's third edition in San Diego next April, and also told about the creation of the "International Framebuilder's Guild".

The Show and Swap: Attendance was down a bit, and there weren't quite as many bikes this year - but there was an outstanding array of bicycles on display. I picked up a few items - replacement tires, "The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles" will be on it's way to me next week, some titanium hex head bolts, some more appropriate pedals for the Bob Jackson. We survived a passing storm that brought gusts of wind, sheets of rain, and a brief power outage (I was getting lunch, and there were whitecaps on my beverage). At the end, I learned that my Hetchins had won an award (interesting that this was the first year I hadn't even considered that possibility).

Most of all, there were a lot of nice conversations with old friends, and new. I highly recommend the event, and can state from experience that there are very few people involved in our interest who are not very approachable, friendly and helpful. I went to my first Cirque in 2007, and was a bit uncertain of what to expect, and was unnecessarily a bit intimidated by feeling insignificant in the presence people who are well known in vintage bicycle circles. True, you do start out as a bit of an outsider, but it really is a very welcoming group. Many of you here would help add to the event, just by being there and being yourselves.

robatsu

I wish I would have known how to pick you out of a crowd. I rode out there from my home on my new (to me) Tommasini. I left rather late, so I didn't arrive at the show/swap meet until 12:30 or so, seemed like things were already winding down. You are right, that storm line that come through around 2 was pretty much the wrath of god. It also dropped the temperature about 20 degrees, from about 90 down to 70. I had a 50 mile ride home and I was dressed for 90 degrees. First ten miles was pretty rainy/cold, but then it eased off a little.

I'd encourage everyone within some radius to at least attend the swap/show. It is pretty cool just hanging out and chatting with the bike junkies.

Talked with Velo Orange Tom, who, despite his occasionally dyspeptic remarks in this forum, is actually a prince of a fellow. He told me that the first VO hubs are going to be available around October/November. The first model available will be for a freewheel. The styling is Maxicar, with circular cutouts. I can't wait to buy a set.

There was also a Tommasini very similar to mine entered in the show and won 2d place in some category (mine is on the left):

repechage

Thank you for the report. There is just no way I will be able to attend one of these in the foreseeable future, so I will always be waiting for a report. They are appreciated.
The West Coast version of a Vintage bike event basically evaporated in 2008 where it was canceled about a month out. They are work, expectations are pretty high, and unlike the auto or motorcycle scene there is not much depth of folk willing or able to stick their neck out.

An observation is that almost all of the big vintage lightweight events push the one off and esoteric. There is a possibly larger base of enthusiasts who like more accessible and production bikes. I do not know it there are many / any big events for more "normal" or mass market bikes, muscle bikes, balloon tired or?

JML

I wanted to go, but had just been down to the DC area earlier in the week and had to return to attend a graduation ceremony in Pittsburgh on Sunday. Next year, I hope I see you in Leesburg, with my bike.

Bianchigirll 

sounds like alot of fun. just where was this?

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

this does sound really cool. I take it this is the one in leesburg, VA? https://www.cirqueducyclisme.com/

Might look into doing that next year. What sort of rides went on?

sykerocker 

Going to make it one of these years - considering how close I live, I'm amazed I haven't attended yet.

USAZorro

There are informal rides on Thursday afternoon, Friday and Sunday mornings. There's a roughly 17 mile fixed gear ride on Friday afternoon, and this year there were three choices of rides on Saturday morning - a 42 mile "fast" ride, a 25 mile "dirt roads" ride, and a 15 mile "easy" ride.

Note that the past two years, there have been hammering incidents on the "easy" ride, but it is not an internally competitive ride. For the dirt road ride, wide tires are truly a good idea, and fenders ought to have huge amounts of clearance if you're using them at all (don't ask me how I know this)

repechage

Old bike racers just have a hard time not reliving their youth.