Nov. 23rd, 2020.
I have been waiting for this day for years. This is not an exaggeration; and those of you with a history on this List know it because your ears are bleeding from all of the pining I’ve subjected you to. A metallic red Rivendell mixte - yes, you’ve heard it before. Rivendell shipped my raspberry Platypus and the parts a month ago. There was a wait for the hand-built Velocity wheelset and custom anodized parts from Analog Cycles, but those came today. I dropped everything to take the load of stuff 35 minutes across town to one of the few bike shops left in Las Vegas. This bike shop earned my allegiance this summer when they expertly installed my wheelset and dyno on my Clementine. (I will also admit here that I cried in their parking lot on arrival that day because their name is Pro Cyclery and I was sure I’d be a joke there.) I entered the shop with my face masked and my arms full and took in the scene while I waited for the mechanic. There were 3 other customers in the store; one man looking at parts, an elderly gentleman complaining about his hybrid bike (“Everything on this bike feels too high!”) and an old duffer who had planted himself at a high boy table and was watching the mechanics work. The shop manager and the mechanic peered into the box and could see the seat lug with the cream heart peeking out. That was all it took for the Platypus to charm them. We moved my boxes of stuff into the mechanics’ bay (special privileges, what?!) and the mechanic opened the Analog box. There were mounds of parcels in brown paper wrappings inside. “Here,” said the mechanic, “We’ll both unwrap them. It will be like Christmas.” The first thing he unwrapped was...a bottle of Vermont syrup. “Oh, they’re from Vermont,” I explained, “Their shop is actually a sugar shack.” “VERMONT YOU SAY? WHERE IN VERMONT?” boomed the Old Duffer. “Vermont syrup!” squealed the manager. “Do you know how good Vermont syrup is?” The mechanic enthusiastically agreed with her, so it was only right that they should keep it. We went on with our unwrapping - Ooh, I got teal HEADSET SPACERS - what’s in yours? Oh, rose bolts, you don’t say! - until we had everything laid out. We went to the computer to input the information. “Ok,” said the mechanic, “This is another Rivendell...does it have a name?” “Well, it does, actually,” I said with great hesitation, “It’s....a Platypus.” “No it isn’t,” said the mechanic. “Are you serious?” asked the manager. “PLATYPUS?! ISN’T THAT WHAT THEY CALL THE MISSING LINK?” boomed the Old Duffer. “Well,” I said, considering, “I don’t know, but did you know they glow in the dark?!” Tonight I got a call from the mechanic. He’s started my build early and will be doing cabling in a couple of hours. He wants to know how high I’d like my bars so he can cut the cables for a perfect, customized look. I have never gotten a call like that from a bike store. I’m cautiously optimistic that this is all going to work out just fine... _________________________________________________________________________________ Nov. 25th. The shop was swamped today. The air compressor cracked. These were the explanations offered up, and I barely heard them. My nails are painted raspberry metallic, I am wearing hard pants (that’s what we call jeans in the pandemic!) and all for naught. Naturally, because it is 2020, the bike will not be ready for TWO more days because the 26th is Thanksgiving. I’m so used to being disappointed this year that it barely matters. Ok, another night ride on the Clementine, clunky bottom bracket and all... __________________________________________________________________________________ Nov. 27th. I called to see about what time I should come pick up my bike. The shop is having trouble with a couple of things, mostly the details that will make this a polished, high-end build. The dyno wire is too long and they don’t have expertise with cutting and splicing. They ask if I’m set on having a kickstand, express woe about damaging the paint. I am confused and point out that there’s a kickstand plate (do I know about kickstand plates? No, but I suspect they make kickstands easy to install) and the shop acknowledges this but they are opposed to the bolt as it is long and ugly. I tell them I don’t know about these things but I definitely want a kickstand, and they reassure me that they’ll “make it nice and pretty for ya.” They decline to give a time for me to pick up the bike, but the shop closes at 3 and they *think* the bike will be done by then. Here is where it is good to remind myself that it is STILL 2020 out there. Even though I am wearing my hard pants again and my nails are painted and I will surely be wearing the appropriately-colored lipstick under my mask, it may all be for naught again. I’ll report back. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/511929cd-f29a-4cbd-9c04-d01d0931719fn%40googlegroups.com.
