Re:
Hi all,
Hard to believe it's now exactly a week since that wonderful day! I think I'm only just recovering from all the excitement.
Sorry for taking so long to check in and comment. I had an amazing weekend. It was Chris Longun and Lee RBG's faults that I was UNABLE to get to the site any sooner than we did, despite a promise of being there at 7:30! 'Twas indeed all that
free P) ale and wine that did me in - didn't remember getting back to the guest house (which was fantastic - thanks again Tom for the heads-up; Rich was a great host and we'll definitely stay there again next year) so it's all thanks to my better half Laura for saving me from a diabetic coma upon waking and getting me to the town centre, albeit with a stinking filthy hangover only slightly alleviated by a full English breakfast in Wetherspoons (that coincided with the timing of that downpour)!
Was again lovely to meet those I'd previously met last year and at Mayhem, and great to put many more faces and names to usernames and avatars! Forgive me for not remembering everyone I spoke to (bored off more like - I know I can talk a glass eye to sleep) - my memory is appalling. Thank goodness for photographic memories posted here and on the Iconoclassic Facebook group, which certainly makes things easier with names, but there's no beating having everything here on the forum in one place; easily navigable and searchable.
After deliberating the past week, and previously saying I could only pick a top five, maybe three, but not an outright winner, I'm struggling to even get a top 5 now! My personal highlights were:
• Al's Pascal Blanc Explosiv - epic! I've been waxing lyrical about it ever since. I'd probably pick this as my outight winner if push came to shove! It got such a positive response on my Instagram that Marin Museum of Bicycling want to do a little feature on their secondary Instagram page (@mmb_extra) so I've emailed pics that Al kindly forwarded to me - look out for that on Instagram soon..!
• Dan's own-built Danson Columbus Max with the Suntour XC Pro - I just loved the detail. Amazing. What a supremely talented guy! Great to meet you.
• James's Adroit SL and 20th Anniversary - to see such a pristine original SL is out of this world and the details on the gold/black ancillaries of the Anni' is crazy!
• Shawn's Marin FRS and the 'showboat' of his Kleins next to James's
• Russell's Yeti ARC AS LT featuring ex-Geoff Ringlé-owned HED wheels and a prototype one-of-one Ringlé layback seatpost, and his 91 Al-Mega DX with all its purple bling!
• Nick (Spud)'s Yeti Ultimate. Just wow!
• Matt2014's exquisite pair of Marins - my kind of attention to detail on them both (and the Pinnacle too with its NOS black Deore XT - stunning), loved chatting to you about them.
• Adrian's stunning Konas - awesome!
• Lee's Michael Browning - special!
• I also loved the regally-coloured red & gold Brian Rourke Cycledelic; something about the colour, cleanliness and NOS parts drew me to it; the detail on the cable stops was superb. Thanks to Retro Junkie for explaining it all to me and for your kind words.
I could go on and on and on... Justin's GT RTS-1 was another I loved. And on... Laura's favourite was Nick's Yeti ARC. She loves a bit of 3DV ano! And those colour-matched Judys are also a favourite of mine and influenced my Al-Mega DX build!
I made my 14-year-old self extremely happy by getting to sit on John Atkins Cycles' Raleigh John Tomac on Saturday afternoon in the shop - only the fourth person to do so since they got it! An awesome bike (which was my bike of Iconoclassic 2015 last year and possibly the bike of my life) and I am so grateful to Nigel for allowing me to do so. I just wanted to stick on some SPDs and ride it. (Not a snowball in hell's chance I know!)
I also picked up a couple of great bargains in the jumble with a great 1 1/4" A-Tac stem from Shawn, original ODI John Tomac Attacks in the tube WITH the mushroom sticker (I loveeeee stickers haha!) and arranged to buy a super rare Alpinestars jersey that came in the post a couple of days ago! I also concur with others that the Lemming Brew ale was great.
An amazing weekend! Very well done Tom and Sue (aka Ceri lol!) for organising it.
Roll on Iconoclassic 2017 where I'll have the Ti-Mega finished for display.
Here are my photos in no particular order. I managed to get most of the bikes in before the battery died but lacked any atmospheric shots - something I need to work on for next year!
Enjoy
JAC
PB
DAN
FRS
funk
adsl
20
ks
