In response to what Leah wrote: "Andy - yes, delight us with your 20 year Ram write-up and beausage. Who else has had a bike for a long time and can contribute? Like Pam, I’d really enjoy those stories and photos."
I got my 2002 Rambouillet just in time (4pm, afternoon prior to departure) to ride across the country with three others on a trip so light I didn't have a weather resistant camera small enough to take. Grant said this bike would fit me without going custom, so I put on a Nelson Longflap with a Bagman support, three cages, a pump, some spare tubes, headed to Yorktown to ride across the country with three folks, one I nominally knew as my wife's (who demurred from this activity) friend from college. I had a slight detour from plans in Colorado when the fresh granite and tar chip top road popped my back tire on a winding descent. I couldn't hold a line on the flat, had a 35 mph high side dismount, left measurable amounts of myself on the road and a separated my left shoulder. After getting up, fixing my flat and one of the other's (I was the riding mechanic), finding no cell service on three carriers' phones, not a passing car in hours and a dark storm across the western sky, I looked at the others who exited their wordless shock at my condition observing "Andy, your shoulder's messed up". Yes, and help is 48 more miles from here. What stood out on that evening was how I was able to ride my bike those miles into the next town as such. It's been a dependable bike since then with all sorts of adventures, iterations, friendships and a few sufferfests. At the Nor'Easter curtailed April 2012 Riv Rally East the prudent either detoured the rest of the ride at Ohiopyle or hunkered down and camped through the storm (Kalamazoo Marc). I stood on the porch of the outfitter providing shuttle for most back to Cumberland, MD trying to reach my wife until they closed at 5. I wanted to redirect her to a nearer pick up location but was visiting frineds in an equally challenging cell service location, so I headed out into the snow on the GAP headed for our predetermined pick up site. A long couple of hours on a desolate snow covered path on the trusty Ram. https://photos.app.goo.gl/9fP8TaUxETEBTgdQ8 I have gotten through many of the pictures to add some context but pictures do tell a thousand words...before writing any. I'm still scouring storage platforms for other pictures from eras and riding not covered. Work in progress. Learned a lot on this bike and from this bike. Grant was right, this bike will work for me. Andy Cheatham On Sunday, May 16, 2021 at 12:35:07 PM UTC-4 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote: > Your bike mistreated because of its beausage? Never. It is my unvarnished > opinion that the mistreated bike is the pristine one. A pristine bike is a > parked bike, and Rivs are meant to be ridden. I have one scuff in my > raspberry Platypus paint and I don’t even care. More to come, I figure. > > Andy - yes, delight us with your 20 year Ram write-up and beausage. Who > else has had a bike for a long time and can contribute? Like Pam, I’d > really enjoy those stories and photos. > > As for me, my Betty Foy was 8 years old when I traded it in for the longer > chain-stayed, raspberry Platypus. I learned a lot in those 8 years and you > could see it on the frame. I didn’t even know how to raise the handlebars > when I got my Betty. I stripped a bolt or two. Mashed the brake cable into > the top tube paint job. I used it to pull my kids and haul my dog, and as > such, it was tipped over by said kids and dog more than once. Wish I had > done a similar write-up! > > Leah > Sent from my iPad > > On May 16, 2021, at 7:21 AM, Pam Bikes <pamlike...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I was afraid people would give me a hard time for thinking I mistreated > my bike. I'd love to see other bikes in similar condition. I used to > stress over the paint chips but have enjoyed all the rides and have come to > realize that bikes are for riding. If it gets chipped, that's part of the > journey. > > > I'm sure more people have ridden lots more than me. I just ride mine > everyday, everywhere literally. We're all lucky we have our Rivs before > Ultraromancer, Bike Snob and Russ of The Path Less Pedaled got theirs. > Rivs may be more hard to come by. > > On Sunday, May 16, 2021 at 10:02:36 AM UTC-4 Joel S wrote: > >> You use your bike the way we all should (if weather permitted). Good to >> remember the nicks and scratches. A well used bike. >> >> On Saturday, May 15, 2021 at 9:11:15 PM UTC-4 Pam Bikes wrote: >> >>> I wanted to share pictures of a Riv after 10 years with lots of >>> beausage. >>> I'm terrible at Wordpress and not sure how to format it so it's cobbled >>> together but I did put all the pictures there and some fun facts. I love >>> my bike. It's the one thing I use everyday and enjoy riding it still. >>> >>> http://cltspokespeople.org/my-betty-foy-after-10-years/ >>> >>> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/R71ZbenRC1E/unsubscribe > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/87fedca2-6b6d-4fc9-97cf-f79424d70e4bn%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/87fedca2-6b6d-4fc9-97cf-f79424d70e4bn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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