[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
Heh - just looked at the photo. Didn't think it was that different. Just what folks were wearing at the time. (Found a copy of R2R at a used bookstore last summer.) As to the LOTR/Hobbit. Been a fan since junior high. Used to be pretty obsessive about collecting Tolkein items. But recently cut back to a couple copies of the Hobbit and one paperback set of LOTR. Slight Riv-related content; back in the late 1970's and early 1980's, my family visited the SF region on vacation a few times. During one visit, ended up at a shop on Fisherman's Wharf that had the chess pieces Fellowship Foundry was producing. Picked up a couple items. Then for the next few years, my aunt would give me a piece or two to add to the set. By the time I graduated high school, had a complete Hobbit chess set. (Which, luckily, I still own). Always wondered if Grant was aware of those sets? Seemed like the kind of thing he'd like. Well made and slightly quirky. Eric Platt St. Paul, MN On Feb 3, 9:50�pm, David Estes cyclotour...@gmail.com wrote: On Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 5:56 PM, CycloFiend cyclofi...@earthlink.net wrote: on 2/3/09 5:49 PM, David Estes at cyclotour...@gmail.com tees it up with: Those are the ones with the famous picture of the author! The famous author photo only appears on Roads To Ride, not on Roads to Ride - South. - J -~--~~~~--~~--~--~--- Ahhh, good to know that was a short lived stage... :-) -- Cheers, David Redlands, CA --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
On Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 9:00 PM, Bill M. bmenn...@comcast.net wrote: As it appears that Tolkeinalia is being tolerated for now... My first exposure to LOTR was in the summer of 1970 at age 12. I've lost count of how many times I've read it. Reading The Hobbit and all of LOTR aloud to my children is a cherished memory, and I treasure the leather-bound edition of LOTR that my wife gave me one year for Christmas. As to the movies, much was well done, but the truncation of the hobbits' return home was disappointing. I understand it in cinematic terms, but much of the lasting meaning of the books (for me) comes in the completion of Sam's story arc. It was many years after that first reading before I realized that it was Sam's story that inspired me, not Frodo's. Frodo was a mature man at the outset of their journey but returned shattered from his burden. Sam left home very young (another problem in the movie - Sam was much younger than Frodo, their relationship should be more father-son than the movie presents) on a journey he barely understood, but he returned a mature man, strong but not boastful or brash. We see this in his actions after the Scouring. He used the gift of Galadriel to heal the wounds of the Shire, not for his own gain. He planted the Mallorn to replace the party tree where all could enjoy it, married the prettiest girl in town, raised a big family, and became the Mayor of the Shire. And, deep in the footnotes, we learn that at the end of his like, Sam too was allowed to pass over the Sundering Seas, as befit a Ring bearer. IMO, Sam is the real hero, the true protagonist of LOTR, and the movie lost that. Well said, though I think you discount too much Frodo's central role in the trilogy. Hobbits would have ridden single speeds - quiet and simple, but durable and speedy if need be. But Frodo obviously rode a fixed gear. --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
I think we all know what the orcs and trolls would be riding... On Feb 4, 8:03 am, PATRICK MOORE bertin...@gmail.com wrote: On Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 9:00 PM, Bill M. bmenn...@comcast.net wrote: As it appears that Tolkeinalia is being tolerated for now... My first exposure to LOTR was in the summer of 1970 at age 12. I've lost count of how many times I've read it. Reading The Hobbit and all of LOTR aloud to my children is a cherished memory, and I treasure the leather-bound edition of LOTR that my wife gave me one year for Christmas. As to the movies, much was well done, but the truncation of the hobbits' return home was disappointing. I understand it in cinematic terms, but much of the lasting meaning of the books (for me) comes in the completion of Sam's story arc. It was many years after that first reading before I realized that it was Sam's story that inspired me, not Frodo's. Frodo was a mature man at the outset of their journey but returned shattered from his burden. Sam left home very young (another problem in the movie - Sam was much younger than Frodo, their relationship should be more father-son than the movie presents) on a journey he barely understood, but he returned a mature man, strong but not boastful or brash. We see this in his actions after the Scouring. He used the gift of Galadriel to heal the wounds of the Shire, not for his own gain. He planted the Mallorn to replace the party tree where all could enjoy it, married the prettiest girl in town, raised a big family, and became the Mayor of the Shire. And, deep in the footnotes, we learn that at the end of his like, Sam too was allowed to pass over the Sundering Seas, as befit a Ring bearer. IMO, Sam is the real hero, the true protagonist of LOTR, and the movie lost that. Well said, though I think you discount too much Frodo's central role in the trilogy. Hobbits would have ridden single speeds - quiet and simple, but durable and speedy if need be. But Frodo obviously rode a fixed gear. --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
On Feb 2, 2009, at 10:13 PM, David Estes wrote: I guess I came into this the opposite way. I was a BOB, Bridgestone Owner's Bunch member that ended up on the Rivendell mailing list when GP started the company. Although I read the Hobbit and LOTR in middle school, I didn't really make the connection right away. It had been fourteen years or so since I read the books, and Rivendell the place didn't really stand out for me. Plus I'm just slow that way. I came in through the BOB route (BOB #2704 or something like that); I discovered BOB through Grant's funny ads in VeloNews or where ever it was- especially the ad about the bike built by a mysterious vintage fame builder from mysteriously hoarded vintage parts and tubes and lugs. It was brilliant stuff with multiple levels and it's too bad Grant doesn't have that kind of ad budget now. He's good at it. I bought my wife a Construction Pumpkin 1993 XO-1 as an engagement/ wedding present through BOB when Bridgestone finished, among a few other things. She loved that bike, which was horribly destroyed about 10 years ago when it was run over while locked to a sign in front of her workplace. If it's any consolation, the bike and the sign saved some lives that day- an elderly lady somehow confused the gas pedal for the brake while parking, shot over the curb/the sign/ the bike and nearly hurtled through the front windows of the beauty parlor. Every frame tube was bent, I've never seen a bike so destroyed. (With the collusion of several friends, I replaced it with a Heron Road as a surprise Christmas present- a better made and nicer bike, objectively, even if it lacks the cachet of the XO-1). The XO-1 does live on in that some of the parts are in use on other bikes, and my wife still wimpers a bit when she sees an XO-1 on the Internet or in person. Of course, as Grant has mentioned the Rivendell connection to Tolkien was indirect. IIRC the business was named after the defunct Rivendell Mountain Works backpacking gear company rather than directly after the Last Homely House. I'll probably start reading them to my oldest rather soon. Right now going through the L. Frank Baum Oz books which have a lot of the same elements in them. Bonus question: Anybody re-read the LOTR books after seeing the movies, and did that make the books better/worse for you when you read them again? I first read LOTR the summer after graduating from high school (1977) and re-read it about four times in the following six months. I even started learning to read and write Sindarin (this has been carried on to an amazing degree by Tolkien scholars on the Internet and one can now find entire lexicons)- what a nerd I was (and still am). I've read it about once a year since then, probably about 30-35 times now. I remember seeing the first movie with my wife; after the Ralph Bakshi debacle, I was wired to be pissed at Peter Jackson. I made my wife kind of nuts with wait, that's not right! what happened to Crickhollow? and why is Arwen there? What happened to Glorfindel? etc. She finally told me to STFU already. (Any other LOTR fans do this?) But on the whole I came out impressed, and later on when watching the DVD commentary the writers explained why they made changes in plot and characters, and it made so much sense that I felt much better about it. The second movie was much closer to the book and the Ents rocked, so that made it way better, and I was able to let go of the books a bit more. The third movie bugged me in spots again, but still it was easier than the first movie was. Now I can enjoy the movies as sort of separate entities from the books; the extended editions help a lot with that, although the weakest stuff is generally the stuff they added. And the various video extras are astonishing. Reading the books after watching the movies a few times felt strange, because the movies had shifted the contour of the story in my mind a bit. --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
Although I was a LOTR reader, I learned of Grant by buying his Roads to Ride books when I first moved to the Bay Area. Back when Pig Farm Hill still had pigs. Good books, and I still refer to them occasionally. Through that I learned of BOB and then, eventually, Riv. --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
Those are the ones with the famous picture of the author! On Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 11:46 AM, fiddlr40 mather...@gmail.com wrote: Although I was a LOTR reader, I learned of Grant by buying his Roads to Ride books when I first moved to the Bay Area. Back when Pig Farm Hill still had pigs. Good books, and I still refer to them occasionally. Through that I learned of BOB and then, eventually, Riv. -- Cheers, David Redlands, CA --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
On Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 5:56 PM, CycloFiend cyclofi...@earthlink.net wrote: on 2/3/09 5:49 PM, David Estes at cyclotour...@gmail.com tees it up with: Those are the ones with the famous picture of the author! The famous author photo only appears on Roads To Ride, not on Roads to Ride - South. - J -~--~~~~--~~--~--~--- Ahhh, good to know that was a short lived stage... :-) -- Cheers, David Redlands, CA --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
As it appears that Tolkeinalia is being tolerated for now... My first exposure to LOTR was in the summer of 1970 at age 12. I've lost count of how many times I've read it. Reading The Hobbit and all of LOTR aloud to my children is a cherished memory, and I treasure the leather-bound edition of LOTR that my wife gave me one year for Christmas. As to the movies, much was well done, but the truncation of the hobbits' return home was disappointing. I understand it in cinematic terms, but much of the lasting meaning of the books (for me) comes in the completion of Sam's story arc. It was many years after that first reading before I realized that it was Sam's story that inspired me, not Frodo's. Frodo was a mature man at the outset of their journey but returned shattered from his burden. Sam left home very young (another problem in the movie - Sam was much younger than Frodo, their relationship should be more father-son than the movie presents) on a journey he barely understood, but he returned a mature man, strong but not boastful or brash. We see this in his actions after the Scouring. He used the gift of Galadriel to heal the wounds of the Shire, not for his own gain. He planted the Mallorn to replace the party tree where all could enjoy it, married the prettiest girl in town, raised a big family, and became the Mayor of the Shire. And, deep in the footnotes, we learn that at the end of his like, Sam too was allowed to pass over the Sundering Seas, as befit a Ring bearer. IMO, Sam is the real hero, the true protagonist of LOTR, and the movie lost that. Hobbits would have ridden single speeds - quiet and simple, but durable and speedy if need be. Bill --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
Oh yeah! Sorry; it must be middle age... On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 9:36 AM, Seth Vidal skvi...@gmail.com wrote: On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 11:33 AM, Bill Gibson bill.bgib...@gmail.com wrote: But I followed him online for awhile; no examples of the Rivendell bikes were available to me until I saw one at a Seattle Bike Show in 1987? 1988? 1989? I think you must mean 1997, or 1998. -sv -- Bill Gibson Tempe, Arizona, USA --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
I don't know if I was searching for LOTR related information way back in internet prehistory, on some message boards, or GE net or something like that, all text, I found Grant's early bellyaching and what amounted to blogging early Rivendell Bicycle struggles on line: waxing chains, getting real cloisonne headbadges made, cash flow, etc. I was especially intrigued when I learned he had designed the Bridgestone bikes I saw in a local (Yakima, WA) mountaineering/cycling/ski shop that seemed so smart and well done, even though I couldn't justify one on my teacher's salary, with a young family. But I followed him online for awhile; no examples of the Rivendell bikes were available to me until I saw one at a Seattle Bike Show in 1987? 1988? 1989? Only one bike, someone sitting in the booth, looking bored, with a little pile of brochures, that might have been an early Reader. That bike was a beauty and reminded me of Mercians I had drooled over in the Freewheeling Bike shop in Austin, TX, at least in looks. I never really lusted for the Italians; I'm a tourist, and there were no high-quality French bicycles being imported. And then, I found my Quickbeam through Ebay, after reading something Sheldon Brown wrote: http://sheldonbrown.org/journal/journal-0409.html I read once that Tolkien wrote his fantasies in an attempt to provide the English a mythology, something like the Kalavala for Finland, full of images from his childhood and old and middle English literature, myth, story. It seems to me that Grant has done something like that for American bicycles, grounded in Californian earth and sky, full of memories of English bicycles (via Japan and the rest of Asia), the smells of dust and rain, canvas, leather, wool. They work really well in the desert! I suggest a Hoom of Quickbeams; Hoom is what I say after a little sprint. I first read Tolkien when I was 12, and still enjoy him in a different way now, at 53 and 9/12th. On Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 9:16 PM, PATRICK MOORE bertin...@gmail.com wrote: On Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 8:47 PM, Paul Cooley pcoo...@cybermesa.com wrote: http://carfreefamily.blogspot.com Santa Fe, NM Are you new to the list? If so, welcome. If not, greeting anyway. I'm an Albuquerquian and I think the last time I rode in Santa Fe was circa 1993; I remember the long slog up the hill to a trailhead just out of town, north I think. It was your blog that caught my eye, and I read your post on the Railrunner with interest; one of these days, in warmer weather, I'll have to try riding one way and taking the RR back. I live about five or six miles along the RG and Paseo trails from the nearest stop. What sort of Rivendell do you have? Lastly, an almost-connection: I *almost* got a job teaching at St John's in SF back in the early '90s; rather glad I did not, after all, but I did follow a similar undergraduate curriculum way back when. -- Bill Gibson Tempe, Arizona, USA --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
I was a hardcore Tolkein fan from an early age, read everything I could get my hands on, (Farmer Giles of Ham?) and I have to confess that when I first encountered RBW, I didn't make the connection. I was looking on the Waterford website (because a friend had a Gunnar in a nice color-of-the-month, and it was steel; but was looking for something with more than one purpose, and lacked the spandex). So on Waterford there was a link to RBW, one of only a few links, and when I clicked on it, there was the shot of a cyclist on a trail with a wee baggins on mark's rack on the front, approaching a small creek, and . . . it was as if somebody had made a parody of my ideal cycling shot. For a split second, I did feel as if someone was mocking me. It was just too accurate. The bike was spot on, but I think some percentage of it was also probably the bag. I have always had a fondness for the c.c. filson company and the canvas and the wool. When I finally noticed the Tolkein, I laughed out loud, partly at the confluence of interests, partly at my mental indolence. I like the previously suggested murder of but would assign it to bombadils. Collectively, I don't mind gaggle. (Not so) Specifically, it should be a rake of ... (romulus, redwood, road, rambouillet, even rivendells) something alliterative. Rick. On Feb 2, 1:53 pm, Bill Gibson bill.bgib...@gmail.com wrote: Oh yeah! Sorry; it must be middle age... On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 9:36 AM, Seth Vidal skvi...@gmail.com wrote: On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 11:33 AM, Bill Gibson bill.bgib...@gmail.com wrote: But I followed him online for awhile; no examples of the Rivendell bikes were available to me until I saw one at a Seattle Bike Show in 1987? 1988? 1989? I think you must mean 1997, or 1998. -sv -- Bill Gibson Tempe, Arizona, USA --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
How about these names taken from various critter (The reader can research them if interested) gatherings: A zeal of approval? A clat de rear? A descent of Diablo? A knob of shifters? A bale of wicking wool? Oh, the bikes, A route of Rivendells? From: Rick richardholc...@yahoo.com I like the previously suggested murder of but would assign it to bombadils. Collectively, I don't mind gaggle. (Not so) Specifically, it should be a rake of ... (romulus, redwood, road, rambouillet, even rivendells) something alliterative. --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
just a few ideas. A Flight of Bleriot A Quiver of Legolas A Moot of Quickbeams (agreeing, not stealing) A Swell of Atlantises A Giggle of Betty Foys A Field of Bombadils A Stand of Redwoods A D'oh of Homer Hilsons (this is not right, but I can't find anything more appropriate) An Expletive of Sam Hillbornes (what the Sam Hill?) An Orbison of Wilburys A Hymn of Glorious' (Gloria?) A Kennel of Saluki A Flock of Rambouillet A Constellation of Romulus (Romuli) A Race of Roads The Hobbit was my bedtime story, aged 8. Then LOTR kept me company for many a school year after that and still is dusted off periodically. Tailwinds --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 9:13 PM, David Estes cyclotour...@gmail.com wrote: I guess I came into this the opposite way. I was a BOB, Bridgestone Owner's Bunch member that ended up on the Rivendell mailing list when GP started the company. Although I read the Hobbit and LOTR in middle school, I didn't really make the connection right away. It had been fourteen years or so since I read the books, and Rivendell the place didn't really stand out for me. Plus I'm just slow that way. I'll probably start reading them to my oldest rather soon. Right now going through the L. Frank Baum Oz books which have a lot of the same elements in them. Bonus question: Anybody re-read the LOTR books after seeing the movies, and did that make the books better/worse for you when you read them again? My situation was similar, although I didn't read any Tolkien until I was in my 40s. LOTR and Hobbit were popular among some of my fellow 7th graders (1967-8; Frodo Lives! was a popular graffito) but I somehow never got around to reading them. However, I have read Hobbit and the Trilogy at least 20 times since my first reading; they sit on my shelf and I will often pick them up and skip and skim for a quick before-sleep read. It's funny, even now I don't think of LOTR, etc, when I seen things from Riv Bic Works; I think of Grant. And vice versa: Frodo doesn't make me think fondly of my bikes. I thought the movies were quite well done, as I had been dreading their Hollywood-ization (hobbit song and dance numbers, gratuitous sex and nudity among the elves, slow motion dismemberment, with closeups of severed limbs and spurting arterial blood, among the orcs, car chase scenes in the caverns of Mora, Gimli talking jive). The battle scenes in particular were interesting and, I think, well done, and Gandalf hit the right mix of avuncular crustiness and hieratic wizardly dignity. I found some of the elven folk a little too elevated, and I didn't like Legolas's hairstyle. But all in all, quite well done, from this Hollywood skeptic. But I find the books, still, better, and the movies didn't change my opinion of them. Favorite passages, for the language and the images and feelings they conjure: A strong place and wonderful was Isengard, and long it had been beautiful; and there great lords had dwelt, the wardens of Gondor upon the West, and wise men that watched the stars. But Saruman had slowly shaped it to his shifting purposes, and made it better, as he thought, being deceived -- for all those arts and subtle devices, for which he forsook his former wisdom, and which donfly he imagined were his own, came but from Mordor; so that what he made was naught, only a little copy, a child's model or a slave's flattery, of that vast fortress ... Barad-dur, the Dark Tower, which suffered no rival, and laughed at flattery, biding its time, secure in its prie and its immeasurable strength. (II, 8). And: Naked I was sent back -- for a brief time, until my taks was done. And naked I lay upon the mountain-top. The tower behind was crumbled into dust, the window gone; the ruined stair was choked with burned and broken s tone. I was alone, forgotten, without escape upon the hard horn of the world. There I lay staring upward, while the stars wheeled over, and each day was as long as a life-age of the earth. Faint to my ears came the gathered rumour of all lands: the springing and the dying, the song and the weeping, and the slow everlasting groan of overburdened stone. And so at the last Gwaithir the Windlord found me again, and he took me up and bore me away. (II, 5) --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
I've re-read them once, maybe twice. I'm inspired to read them now... :-) On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 9:29 PM, PATRICK MOORE bertin...@gmail.com wrote: On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 9:13 PM, David Estes cyclotour...@gmail.comwrote: I guess I came into this the opposite way. I was a BOB, Bridgestone Owner's Bunch member that ended up on the Rivendell mailing list when GP started the company. Although I read the Hobbit and LOTR in middle school, I didn't really make the connection right away. It had been fourteen years or so since I read the books, and Rivendell the place didn't really stand out for me. Plus I'm just slow that way. I'll probably start reading them to my oldest rather soon. Right now going through the L. Frank Baum Oz books which have a lot of the same elements in them. Bonus question: Anybody re-read the LOTR books after seeing the movies, and did that make the books better/worse for you when you read them again? My situation was similar, although I didn't read any Tolkien until I was in my 40s. LOTR and Hobbit were popular among some of my fellow 7th graders (1967-8; Frodo Lives! was a popular graffito) but I somehow never got around to reading them. However, I have read Hobbit and the Trilogy at least 20 times since my first reading; they sit on my shelf and I will often pick them up and skip and skim for a quick before-sleep read. It's funny, even now I don't think of LOTR, etc, when I seen things from Riv Bic Works; I think of Grant. And vice versa: Frodo doesn't make me think fondly of my bikes. I thought the movies were quite well done, as I had been dreading their Hollywood-ization (hobbit song and dance numbers, gratuitous sex and nudity among the elves, slow motion dismemberment, with closeups of severed limbs and spurting arterial blood, among the orcs, car chase scenes in the caverns of Mora, Gimli talking jive). The battle scenes in particular were interesting and, I think, well done, and Gandalf hit the right mix of avuncular crustiness and hieratic wizardly dignity. I found some of the elven folk a little too elevated, and I didn't like Legolas's hairstyle. But all in all, quite well done, from this Hollywood skeptic. But I find the books, still, better, and the movies didn't change my opinion of them. Favorite passages, for the language and the images and feelings they conjure: A strong place and wonderful was Isengard, and long it had been beautiful; and there great lords had dwelt, the wardens of Gondor upon the West, and wise men that watched the stars. But Saruman had slowly shaped it to his shifting purposes, and made it better, as he thought, being deceived -- for all those arts and subtle devices, for which he forsook his former wisdom, and which donfly he imagined were his own, came but from Mordor; so that what he made was naught, only a little copy, a child's model or a slave's flattery, of that vast fortress ... Barad-dur, the Dark Tower, which suffered no rival, and laughed at flattery, biding its time, secure in its prie and its immeasurable strength. (II, 8). And: Naked I was sent back -- for a brief time, until my taks was done. And naked I lay upon the mountain-top. The tower behind was crumbled into dust, the window gone; the ruined stair was choked with burned and broken s tone. I was alone, forgotten, without escape upon the hard horn of the world. There I lay staring upward, while the stars wheeled over, and each day was as long as a life-age of the earth. Faint to my ears came the gathered rumour of all lands: the springing and the dying, the song and the weeping, and the slow everlasting groan of overburdened stone. And so at the last Gwaithir the Windlord found me again, and he took me up and bore me away. (II, 5) -- Cheers, David Redlands, CA --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
Well, I think you have to go with a squadron of Bleriots! I found Rivendell by doing an net search for steel bikes... I had no idea the word had anything to do with LOTR! Heck, I just figured out Legolas was an elf or something like that...never was much of a LOTR fan. On Jan 31, 7:22 am, Tim McNamara tim...@bitstream.net wrote: On Jan 31, 2009, at 3:56 AM, Chris B wrote: A nathema of carbon?!! ROTFL! --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
A nathema of carbon?!! Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote: Paul: I first learned of Rivendell on the same website. On Jan 30, 9:47 pm, Paul Cooley pcoo...@cybermesa.com wrote: On Jan 30, 2009, at 7:46 PM, Bill M. wrote: LOTR fan that I am, I would propose A Moot of Quickbeams. I'm curious how many Rivendell owners first noticed the company because they were LOTR fans. I first heard of them on a site talking about commuter/touring bikes. Actually, I just Googled it, and the site is still up:http://www.faughnan.com/touringbike.html The name Rivendell caught my eye right away because I'm such a Tolkien fan. Richard Sachs or Bruce Gordon just didn't have the same draw for me. And when I looked into what Grant was trying to do, I was sold. Actually, the whole thing started because I went to my LBS to buy my first new bike since I was a little boy, (this was in 1998 I believe), and what I had in my mind was something like Eugene Sloane's Singer from A Complete Book of Bicycling. At that time, at the LBS, it was all either mountain bikes or racing bikes. I was so disappointed when I looked around. There was nothing like a Singer in there. Nevertheless, I let the owner of the shop talk me into buying a hybrid as being the best bike available to tour and commute on. (I don't know why I didn't research it further on the internet. I guess I just didn't think of the web as a bicycle resource at that point). I absolutely hated the bike from the first day. I knew very well it wasn't anywhere close to what I wanted. What ensued would fill too much space, but suffice it to say that the LBS wouldn't take the bike back the next day, even for partial credit, wouldn't take it on consignment, the bike had numerous problems, and the owner of the shop blamed me for the problems and wouldn't fix things even though the bike was on warranty. (The main problem being a rear spoke would break every couple of weeks for no apparent reason. The owner accused me of thrashing around on it initially, and then claimed that it was because I was hauling a Burley trailer). Needless to say, I no longer shop there. I was so angry, eventually, that I spent far more than I had in my budget for my Rivendell. But I did get what I wanted, (though I get angry at the toe clip overlap from time to time). Paul B. Cooleyhttp://carfreefamily.blogspot.com Santa Fe, NM --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
Somewhat different for me. A couple of years ago, after hitting my first weight loss goal, decided to treat myself to a steel bike. Had a particular local shop in mind, and ended up with a Bianchi Volpe. After the purchase, decided to do a more in-depth on-line search about the bike. That latter search had the word Rivendell show up quite a bit. Being a Tolkien fan, decided to check out the website and bikes. Long, boring story short - found out that Jim had recently opened a shop that sold Rivendell. Ended up visiting and was ruined forever. So can I thank/blame Jim Thill for all this?big grin Eric Platt St. Paul, MN (Remember - The Hobbit was a Tolkien effort) On Jan 31, 1:44�am, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery thill@gmail.com wrote: Paul: I first learned of Rivendell on the same website. On Jan 30, 9:47�pm, Paul Cooley pcoo...@cybermesa.com wrote: On Jan 30, 2009, at 7:46 PM, Bill M. wrote: LOTR fan that I am, I would propose A Moot of Quickbeams. I'm curious how many Rivendell owners first noticed the company � because they were LOTR fans. �I first heard of them on a site talking � about commuter/touring bikes. �Actually, I just Googled it, and the � site is still up:http://www.faughnan.com/touringbike.html The name Rivendell caught my eye right away because I'm such a � Tolkien fan. �Richard Sachs or Bruce Gordon just didn't have the � same draw for me. �And when I looked into what Grant was trying to do, � I was sold. Actually, the whole thing started because I went to my LBS to buy my � first new bike since I was a little boy, (this was in 1998 I believe), � and what I had in my mind was something like Eugene Sloane's Singer � from A Complete Book of Bicycling. �At that time, at the LBS, it was � all either mountain bikes or racing bikes. �I was so disappointed when � I looked around. �There was nothing like a Singer in there. � Nevertheless, I let the owner of the shop talk me into buying a hybrid � as being the best bike available to tour and commute on. (I don't know � why I didn't research it further on the internet. �I guess I just � didn't think of the web as a bicycle resource at that point). �I � absolutely hated the bike from the first day. �I knew very well it � wasn't anywhere close to what I wanted. �What ensued would fill too � much space, but suffice it to say that the LBS wouldn't take the bike � back the next day, even for partial credit, wouldn't take it on � consignment, the bike had numerous problems, and the owner of the shop � blamed me for the problems and wouldn't fix things even though the � bike was on warranty. �(The main problem being a rear spoke would � break every couple of weeks for no apparent reason. �The owner accused � me of thrashing around on it initially, and then claimed that it was � because I was hauling a Burley trailer). Needless to say, I no longer shop there. �I was so angry, eventually, � that I spent far more than I had in my budget for my Rivendell. �But I � did get what I wanted, (though I get angry at the toe clip overlap � from time to time). Paul B. Cooleyhttp://carfreefamily.blogspot.com Santa Fe, NM- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
Adventure Cycling was my first intro to Rivendell. Don't' remember when, but it was probably a John Shubert article. -Original Message- From: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com [mailto:rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Paul Cooley Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 7:47 PM To: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com Subject: [RBW] Tolkien Fans On Jan 30, 2009, at 7:46 PM, Bill M. wrote: LOTR fan that I am, I would propose A Moot of Quickbeams. I'm curious how many Rivendell owners first noticed the company because they were LOTR fans. I first heard of them on a site talking about commuter/touring bikes. Actually, I just Googled it, and the site is still up: http://www.faughnan.com/touringbike.html The name Rivendell caught my eye right away because I'm such a Tolkien fan. Richard Sachs or Bruce Gordon just didn't have the same draw for me. And when I looked into what Grant was trying to do, I was sold. Actually, the whole thing started because I went to my LBS to buy my first new bike since I was a little boy, (this was in 1998 I believe), and what I had in my mind was something like Eugene Sloane's Singer from A Complete Book of Bicycling. At that time, at the LBS, it was all either mountain bikes or racing bikes. I was so disappointed when I looked around. There was nothing like a Singer in there. Nevertheless, I let the owner of the shop talk me into buying a hybrid as being the best bike available to tour and commute on. (I don't know why I didn't research it further on the internet. I guess I just didn't think of the web as a bicycle resource at that point). I absolutely hated the bike from the first day. I knew very well it wasn't anywhere close to what I wanted. What ensued would fill too much space, but suffice it to say that the LBS wouldn't take the bike back the next day, even for partial credit, wouldn't take it on consignment, the bike had numerous problems, and the owner of the shop blamed me for the problems and wouldn't fix things even though the bike was on warranty. (The main problem being a rear spoke would break every couple of weeks for no apparent reason. The owner accused me of thrashing around on it initially, and then claimed that it was because I was hauling a Burley trailer). Needless to say, I no longer shop there. I was so angry, eventually, that I spent far more than I had in my budget for my Rivendell. But I did get what I wanted, (though I get angry at the toe clip overlap from time to time). Paul B. Cooley http://carfreefamily.blogspot.com Santa Fe, NM --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
On Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 8:47 PM, Paul Cooley pcoo...@cybermesa.com wrote: http://carfreefamily.blogspot.com Santa Fe, NM Are you new to the list? If so, welcome. If not, greeting anyway. I'm an Albuquerquian and I think the last time I rode in Santa Fe was circa 1993; I remember the long slog up the hill to a trailhead just out of town, north I think. It was your blog that caught my eye, and I read your post on the Railrunner with interest; one of these days, in warmer weather, I'll have to try riding one way and taking the RR back. I live about five or six miles along the RG and Paseo trails from the nearest stop. What sort of Rivendell do you have? Lastly, an almost-connection: I *almost* got a job teaching at St John's in SF back in the early '90s; rather glad I did not, after all, but I did follow a similar undergraduate curriculum way back when. --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[RBW] Re: Tolkien Fans
Paul: I first learned of Rivendell on the same website. On Jan 30, 9:47 pm, Paul Cooley pcoo...@cybermesa.com wrote: On Jan 30, 2009, at 7:46 PM, Bill M. wrote: LOTR fan that I am, I would propose A Moot of Quickbeams. I'm curious how many Rivendell owners first noticed the company because they were LOTR fans. I first heard of them on a site talking about commuter/touring bikes. Actually, I just Googled it, and the site is still up:http://www.faughnan.com/touringbike.html The name Rivendell caught my eye right away because I'm such a Tolkien fan. Richard Sachs or Bruce Gordon just didn't have the same draw for me. And when I looked into what Grant was trying to do, I was sold. Actually, the whole thing started because I went to my LBS to buy my first new bike since I was a little boy, (this was in 1998 I believe), and what I had in my mind was something like Eugene Sloane's Singer from A Complete Book of Bicycling. At that time, at the LBS, it was all either mountain bikes or racing bikes. I was so disappointed when I looked around. There was nothing like a Singer in there. Nevertheless, I let the owner of the shop talk me into buying a hybrid as being the best bike available to tour and commute on. (I don't know why I didn't research it further on the internet. I guess I just didn't think of the web as a bicycle resource at that point). I absolutely hated the bike from the first day. I knew very well it wasn't anywhere close to what I wanted. What ensued would fill too much space, but suffice it to say that the LBS wouldn't take the bike back the next day, even for partial credit, wouldn't take it on consignment, the bike had numerous problems, and the owner of the shop blamed me for the problems and wouldn't fix things even though the bike was on warranty. (The main problem being a rear spoke would break every couple of weeks for no apparent reason. The owner accused me of thrashing around on it initially, and then claimed that it was because I was hauling a Burley trailer). Needless to say, I no longer shop there. I was so angry, eventually, that I spent far more than I had in my budget for my Rivendell. But I did get what I wanted, (though I get angry at the toe clip overlap from time to time). Paul B. Cooleyhttp://carfreefamily.blogspot.com Santa Fe, NM --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups RBW Owners Bunch group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
