I read via Bikeville that there was a vintage bike ride in Brooklawn, NJ last weekend. Ralph also posted some cool pics of some of the bikes that were ridden in the vintage ride. As a purveyor of vintage bicycles, I thought this idea was awesome. And my first though was, could we pull this off in CoMo?
The event in New Jersey also held a judging, and there were strict rules as to what bikes were eligible for the awards. You can read over the requirements here. I thought their rules were a little stiff, but I can definitely see the advantage of having them; you've got to have some way to keep such an event vintagey. I think if we were to host a ride like this in Columbia, there would need to be some guidelines, but they could be deemed 'recommended'. Making the rules 'recommended' and not 'required' would not exclude
anyone who wanted to come, which is good. And it would give potential
attendees a better idea of what, exactly, the hosts of the ride mean by
'vintage.' There would probably need to be an age cutoff. Something along the lines of, say, bicycles built before1987 preferred . Perhaps also some other suggestions...no brifters, no mountain bikes, and only steel frames, etc.
There's no way I could do something like this on my own. I don't know many local folks who build and/or ride vintage machines, so it would be difficult for me to reach out to that community without help. And I definitely don't have the time that would be necessary to organize and run the thing. But maybe I can coerce some of the local pros to come on board. I'm thinking specifically of Karl and his crew at Klunk Cycles. But I also think the guys over at Walt's might be down. Anyways, I'm really just thinking out loud here. If you have any thoughts on whether we could get a vintage bike ride together, shoot me an email or leave a comment or something.
It was a great idea and I'm glad to know there will be more here.
ReplyDeleteThe rules online seemed strict, but as time past, the restrictions were loosened- clipless pedals were a sticking point and once they agreed riders could use those, then the field grew. I think keeping brifters out is a smart idea, it is not a race and riding with friction shifting, or even a fixed gear really set a level playing field, as did all the riders with toeclips. I was sold the sound of toeclips scraping the ground at the start-ups after a traffic light were very reminiscent of old days.
A ride like this works best with a shop involved, and as an enticement for a shop to participate, approach them with the idea of doing a ride like this will bring them more business, and riders might need to tune their bikes up and such. So it is in their best interest ;)
Also posting about it on the Classic Rendezvous list, because that list is all about classic lightweights(pre 1983), and maybe on The CABE.
let me know how it turns out.
there is also the tweed ride, and that is getting more popular around the country and way more personable and fun for all, as it is a slow ride around the city, and usually involves a bar(that can sponsor some of the details of the ride).