Well, it had to happen someday - the sport/activity that consumed our beings (mine, anyway) for 20 years has gone dry. The behavior of fans, the scene, the weather conditions, weird deep-fried food - everything that had attracted me to the sport vanished when I walked onto the course at the World Championships. I had some kind of weird epiphany and it all seemed.......sort of stupid. Drunken fans, fans who were drunk inside big tents singing inane songs (think soccer matches with "O lay - O lay - O Lay - Ohhh - repeat ad infinitum) and loud pulsing music - no thanks. Stick a fork in me, Dude - I'm done.
That was a nice piece of personal history time but that ship has now sailed. And THIS year it was even wet, primo conditions for 'cross. But these are the only pictures I took - with my phone. I lugged all the big gear with me but it was way too wet to bring it out and chance destruction in the rain - all the pro's had lots of elaborate lens and camera body protections but I'm a "Fair Weather" kind of picture taker.
So, I attended Saturday and stayed home on Sunday and watched the race unfold on TV. Cold, wet Sunday and I had bread, beer and borscht inside where it was warm and dry.
E-Bikes in Tel Aviv!
Last night when we landed in Tel Aviv, out for a walk to find grub for dinner - there were scads of electric bikes flying down the streets and in this part of TA flying through intersections like nobody's business! And wearing their hair only, no helmets, please. I wonder if TA will soon become like old Saigon where they had a very high incidence of head injuries to YP's from scooter accidents (YP's = Young People). TA reminds me of both Poland and Haiti - lots of concrete buildings with exposed rebar waiting for more funding so they can continue construction, one floor at a time. But connections! This place is so wired up it beats home! And especially coming from Paris where, sure - you got WiFi - you got all day, too? I tried all week to prepare a single blog entry, waiting and waiting for photos to get loaded (Anytime today, Pal - ANYTIME!) Soon as we unload in the apartment I ask for the code, drop it in and I'm flying - network paradise.
Retromobile - the 3rd leg of the trip involved a few days in Paris in order to attend Retromobile, one of the great European vintage car shows. I was here a couple of years ago and there has been a titanic shift in vendors. In 2014 probably 25% of the vendors were throwing a jumble of rusting, important parts onto their folding tables like a garage sale. Speedometers for your 1913 Mathis, suspension pieces for your chain-drive Simplex, etc. They have been replaced (probably priced out) by the hordes of model car vendors - there were probably 50 of them. Some very sophisticated commercial guys, many smaller-time vendors with Matchbox/Dinky scale cars, others vastly more intricate and costly. Oh, don't worry - there were real Cars - Everywhere.
And they were AWESOME!
If Becky doesn't end up buying a house in France someday I'll look for one of these! A 70's vintage Alpine-Renault, in my color!
Tucked away on the 2nd floor, not receiving the attention it deserves, is this early 50's Formula 1 car (or, if you ever saw "Talledega Nights" Formule Un) - It's a Lancia with pontoon gas tanks that Ferrari took over the next season when racing got too expensive for the Lancia boys.
Last car picture - for Uncle Bob Johnson - a woody Buick. I've got more that I'll share with those who are interested.
Last cultural photo - when you have lunch at these great French shows there are 2 avenues of eating - with "Class" distinctions. If you want to sit down you fork over 30-40 Euros for a very nice lunch (of course with appropriate wines) or you can get a "Paul"-type sandwich lunch w/soda or water for 10-12 Euros and find your own place to sit down - or eat standing. Peter and I ate standing on Wednesday where we got a great glass of "Ch'ti" 8.5% amber and Thursday I sat against the wall along with hundreds of my new French friends.
I unfortunately discovered many other vintage car-associated events that I could attend in the future, should finances improve. But the lottery guys have to be much more attentive to my numbers before that can be scheduled, Blast!
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