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Remember my schoolboy crush that I tried to satisfy with a europa?
I grew up in a village between Leicester and Nottingham. Pretty much from my birth in the 60s, everybody rode a bicycle, usually a Raleigh. My first was a Pixie. Then Tomahawk, Chopper and Olympus followed. At 16 I couldn't afford the Red Team Raleigh dream bike in the window of my usual bicycle shop or even a cheap Europa rip-off. I spent hours looking at that gleaming red machine in the window. Perfection. I betrayed my brand and bought a 25" Coventry Eagle. From somewhere else I hasten to add. Marriott's in Syston, also still there but old Mr Marriott is long gone. The shame. Joop would've been furious.
Fast-forward thirty five or so years and the chance came up to buy a Europa in barn-find condition. I did my thing with it, rode it around the lanes, realised it was a pale imitation of the bike of my dreams and sold it on. And waited and searched. Top end early 80s Raleighs are hard enough to find, never mind huge ones.
Another barn-find. 82/83 they think. A bit of imagination required. Catalogue scans confirm it. Emails and texts exchanged. Sale agreed.
Even Mrs HM gets it with this one. She witnessed the Europa disappointment and is contributing as an early birthday present.
Well. It’s going to be a very very long week. Making a 250 mile round-trip next Sunday.
EDIT: Just been noodling on google earth. This was the window but it looks like they still have the upstairs. The shop used to be the whole corner and up the side road.
I grew up in a village between Leicester and Nottingham. Pretty much from my birth in the 60s, everybody rode a bicycle, usually a Raleigh. My first was a Pixie. Then Tomahawk, Chopper and Olympus followed. At 16 I couldn't afford the Red Team Raleigh dream bike in the window of my usual bicycle shop or even a cheap Europa rip-off. I spent hours looking at that gleaming red machine in the window. Perfection. I betrayed my brand and bought a 25" Coventry Eagle. From somewhere else I hasten to add. Marriott's in Syston, also still there but old Mr Marriott is long gone. The shame. Joop would've been furious.
Fast-forward thirty five or so years and the chance came up to buy a Europa in barn-find condition. I did my thing with it, rode it around the lanes, realised it was a pale imitation of the bike of my dreams and sold it on. And waited and searched. Top end early 80s Raleighs are hard enough to find, never mind huge ones.
Another barn-find. 82/83 they think. A bit of imagination required. Catalogue scans confirm it. Emails and texts exchanged. Sale agreed.
Even Mrs HM gets it with this one. She witnessed the Europa disappointment and is contributing as an early birthday present.
Well. It’s going to be a very very long week. Making a 250 mile round-trip next Sunday.
EDIT: Just been noodling on google earth. This was the window but it looks like they still have the upstairs. The shop used to be the whole corner and up the side road.
