Having agreed the graphics,
title, marketing strategy and other definitive stuff, our collaboration is
hurtling ever closer to fruition. Self-belief, realistic deadlines, effective
time management and the ability to juggle competing priorities are fundamental to
the success of any venture. Rest and play must also be factored into this
equation if one is to avoid flying over the cuckoos’ nest or becoming the
proverbial dull boy/girl.
Sunny skies have roused the
Teenage dream from its long winter hibernation for some seriously spirited back
road fun. Little remains of its original incarnation but while there are
firm, sentimental attachments to its 1982 Campagnolo Victory derailleurs, other
components held more negative personal connotations, so were easily upgraded
and sold on without remorse.
Once a benchmark, Reynolds
531 has long been superseded in competition terms by more exotic blends, though
this was largely influenced by modern volume production methods, which favours
fusion welding’s speed over fillet brazing-enter 525 and 631.
However, not all flavours
were resounding successes. The thin wall competition variant still delivers
considerable grin inducing zing within those formative pedal strokes. Just
resist any seat tube reaming or electroplating urges and have a little
corrosion inhibiting preserve sloshing around inside-there’s a reason why it’s 27.0,
not 27.2!
Once the Teenage Dream’s Regina
screw on freewheel rumbles on up to the great bike shop in the sky, I’ll
commence wholesale modernisation with this here Sun Race NRX group. Its OEM
external cup bottom bracket will be substituted for something stiffer to
compensate for the lugged and brazed frameset’s greater lateral flex but this
is my only intentional deviation.
Obviously such updating will
necessitate professional resetting of its rear triangle to130mm-Lee Cooper (http://leecoopercycles.webs.com/)
has very kindly offered his services and hence, said evolution will hopefully
coincide with mid-winter’s wrath.
Deeply intrigued by and
attracted to older framesets, component groups, cameras, motorcycles and even
some cars, I’m no purist. Those actively living within a romanticised,
rose-tinted view of the past will never move forward. I have comparatively contact with anyone I studied at polytechnic with-there are a few carried
forward and held dear, obviously. The same applies to others within my previous professional “lives” but from a strictly personal perspective, yesterday is
only significant in terms of what we’ve learned from it since.
Conversely there’s
memorabilia retained from this era-a Motorola team jersey bought for my eighteenth
birthday-something that immediately spirits me to Plaistow and E.G Bates cycles
on the Barking Road. (long gone along with any East End connections).
Raised in
a rural parish, I marvelled at West Ham E15- an area characterised by abandoned
and often derelict factories, depots and cars in 1992, its grey, grimy patina
captured perfectly in Kodak’s Tri-X black n’ white 35mm film. One afternoon in
1994, I snuck past a loose section of corrugated iron and into the rotting hulk
of Lesney’s former toy factory having visited a friend at Homerton’s decidedly
foreboding RN RU.
Abandoned since 1983, the
main track and apparatus were still evident with little evidence of metal theft
or mindless vandalism. Extensive redevelopment and gentrification means these
areas are almost unrecognisable and therefore unprepossessing.
I ran an Indian built
Enfield Bullet for a short spell towards the decade’s end. Beautiful lines,
delightful to polish, sipped petrol but even blessed with upgraded 12 volt
electrics and a single front disc brake, contemporary urban traffic conditions
proved a test of our resolve, let alone an earlier “genuine” Royal Enfield.
This is entirely different
phenomenon from the recent and in my view, very welcome reintroduction of some
older concepts-merino jerseys, dyno lighting, internal gears, properly sealed
and moderately priced fixed hubs, child/utility trailers to name but a few
examples that have been resurrected using modern materials.
Concrete jungle aside,
riding is fertile ground for contemplation. With the benefit of hindsight,
there are situations and events and indeed some people I would’ve approached
very differently but regrets and “what ifs” are futile.
Good, bad or plain
indifferent, these experiences have shaped my identity, world view. Lessons
learned form the basis for better decision making and relationships, whether
these are business or of a more intimate nature.
