Velo City Cycles

by MC

I see him every Wednesday night, out at the races. He’s one of the bazillion kids that show up with all their folks and friends from the local High School. Kinda squirrely, most of ‘em, but you gotta think that it’s a good thing, them comin’ out to get their butts beat, every week. At least they’re riding, not chasing a golf ball or watching Nascar.

Anyway, the particular kid that I’m talkin’ about is on a Fuji Finest from the 70’s. I figure he got it down from the rafters of the garage, that it was/is his Dad’s and he’s gonna race it ’till something better comes along. It’s pretty stock, with those lousy Dia-Compe center-pulls, large flange hubs, (although I think the tuby rims are long gone), and neither the stickers he plastered it with nor the years can hide that classic paint-over-chrome finish that all those old Fujis had.

I remember that Finest, (goofy name, huh?) ‘cuz I had a couple of ‘em back in the day. The one I still have has quite a pedigree: it was set up full race when I got it used in ‘75 for $300. (My mom just about freaked!) I raced it some, then it became my touring bike, with big tires and lotsa gears. It hauled a trailer full of gear and our daughter in Wisconsin, explored some single track down by the river and was my main bike for years. It’s been on a velodrome, used to play mountainbike polo, has had flat, drop and moustache bars, 1,6,10, and 15 speeds, fenders, lights, racks, and spends its days lately as my X-tracycle, complete with 26″ wheels and a cool add-on dealie that gives it 15 extra inches of wheelbase and a 200 pound payload capacity. It’s what Grant Petersen might refer to as a “Hardy Steed.”

I’ve never talked to the kid with the old Finest. I’m not sure why. Partly I’m unwilling to admit that we’re of such different generations, that I’m some old geezer that thinks his bike is cooler than he does. My guess is that he’d swap it in a second if he could be on some light, flashy, STI-equipped Cannon-Trek-ilized thing like his buds. That’s okay, of course, maybe even to be expected. We all like the cool stuff after all, and lotsa companies spend lotsa bucks to keep us droolin’ for more. Shoot, that’s sort of how I make my living, such as it is.

Still, I find myself wondering if that old Fuji has had a life anything like mine has, and if it has, I wonder if that kid has any idea, and if he does, I wonder if he cares? For all I know, he thinks it’s an old piece of crap and his folks are lame ‘cuz they won’t buy him something cool unless he gets his grades up. I’d like to think that he appreciates that fact that he’s going pretty fast on that 30-some year old bike, a frame that’s been around twice as long as he has. (Not that you gotta go very fast to be near me in a race!) I have my doubts, but I’m gonna keep hoping that the bike means more to him than I’m afraid that it does.

Maybe that’s the real reason I haven’t asked him about, huh?

One thing’s for sure: I’m doing way too much thinking in these races and not enough hammering.