I don't want to take this tread over by contributing to any unwanted banter. My intentions are to contribute nothing but positive comments and content to this forum. I respect everyone here and am thankful to learn something from each of you everyday. I truly appreciate the opportunity to network within this community and to help with builds whenever I can. This is my passion and I respect that it is yours too.
I am thankful that my "business" and passions overlap. I understand that this will bring it's share of criticism in an open forum and therefore I don't take anything personal. In hindsight, Sinnerman you are right, I shouldn't have entered the Breezer this month. To be honest I was simply overly excited to have just completed the most historic restoration that I have ever had the opportunity build and wanted to share it with a community that shares this passion. I am still a "newbie" relatively speaking and this restoration represented a serious history lesson in an era of Mountain Bikes that up until recently I didn't know that much about. I was only 4 years old when this Breezer was born but I have gained a serious level of appreciation for the craftsmanship and vision that went into these early mountain bikes.
That excitement, along with my interpretation of John's theme, lead me to enter the Breezer. I was not looking to take advantage of a situation where "underdog" bikes would be entered (I think we can all agree that this Breezer would hold it's own in any competition). Win or lose, this restoration has already been a huge success for me. After two years of building bikes and entering them in the BoTM comp (none of which have ever been sold btw) I've gotten pretty use to losing. I never enter these comps with even a remote idea that I have a chance of winning and this month was no different!
The worst thing that can come out of any of this is that we take away this passion away from others. Lets not forget why we ride and build bikes in the first place. We are grown adults that still get excited about bikes.... it's a privilege to be part of a community that shares this passion. Here's to building great bikes and sharing them with our peers. Have FUN in your garage tonight, I know I will.
