iab

Picture of the day - Coppi's bust outside the Madonna del Ghisallo


Ghisallo 067 by iabisdb, on Flickr

RobbieTunes

I'll bet it hurt riding through that stone.

rccardr 

RobbieTunes

iab

1940, just before the Giro d'Italia, Fausto's first great win, launching his career.

Second row, middle picture.


SI10 by iabisdb, on Flickr

rccardr 

RobbieTunes

@iab
@crank_addict
@nomadmax
@speedevil
@friendofpugs
@PilotFishBob
@RobbieTunes
@rccardr
@ChromeMolly
@natterberry
@bikemig
@76SLT
@Sprocket Turner
@mstateglfr
The legendary @northbend
@smontanaro


Easily outnumbered by collectors, bikes, and nice people we haven't even met yet.

nomadmax 

I'm not one to wish away time but I can't wait.

J.Higgins 

I've always thought I was born 100 years too late. What an amazing man. What an amazing story. Life must have been better then, without all of the modern distractions sucking away our focus.

smontanaro 

I'll be there, as will Dan M, whose BF handle I can never remember.

smontanaro 

RobbieTunes

bikemig 

+ 1. Awesome ride. The cloud cover kept things cool which was great given how much time I spent on the road to finish the 100k,

Loved the 18% grade; that was a heck of a climb. My GPS shows 4300 ft of climbing over the 100k. The roads were fantastic.

bikemig 

So what was the oldest bike to finish the 100k? My Fuji Finest dates from '70-'71. I'm glad I put a triple on it.

iab

So about 40 of us vintage bike enthusiasts celebrated Fausto Coppi’s 100th birthday this past weekend in southwest Wisconsin. Great people, great food, great rides, great weather and great bikes, what more could one want.

I met a friend at Chicago’s O’Hare. He flew in from SoCal and I was coming in from Geneva after 2 weeks in the EU for work. I was in Milan the prior weekend, but that is for another post. We shared a sedan to my house, loaded the van and bugged out for Hollandale, WI. We dropped the stuff at the venue, grabbed a bite and I was toast.

I woke up at 4am, wide awake. To me it was 11am, so I went and organized some stuff at the venue and went for a ride at 6:30am. 75k and about 3800 feet of climbing. Just to give you an idea of the area, in the 2:15 of riding, I was passed by a single car. I may seen 10-12 oncoming cars total. Truly lovely country that is uninterrupted by traffic. Pictures of that ride – https://www.flickr.com/photos/681231...57710874316138

I met my friend for breakfast/brunch at the Red Rooster in Mineral Point, went to the venue and the party started. We put the bikes on the front lawn, drank, socialized and had a fine time. We had a traditional pasta meal with Nonna Coppi’s secret gravy recipe and banana birthday cake. After dinner was an award’s ceremony. Judging was arbitrary and subjective, so thankfully no fist fights broke out. The “winners” are as follow.

Best Modern – 1988 Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra with off-topic Campagnolo drivetrain
Best Vintage – 1958 Cinelli UVI Pista
Best Bianchi – 1984 Bianchi Nuovo Racing, it was a “shoe-in”
Best It’s Not Italian? – 1930s Hobbs of Barbican
Vintage Enthusiast – RobbieTunes
People’s Choice – 1953 Carlton Jewel
People’s Choice Varsity (best low end bike) – A tie between a 1972 Schwinn Voyageur and a 1965 Legnano Donna. A commemorative Fausto Coppi coin was flipped, the Schwinn won, chose to keep the plaque, the Legnano was awarded the commemorative Fausto Coppi coin.
Pictures of Saturday – https://www.flickr.com/photos/681231...57710875348641

It rained pretty hard Saturday night, but it cleared for Sunday. Cloudy, but that kept the temperature cool for the ride. Scones, bananas and coffee were served prior to the ride. Choices of 25k, 50k and 100k routes were offered. The 100k route has about 5000 feet of climbing. After the ride, a traditional SW Wisconsin lunch was served. Beer-boiled and grilled brats, pasties, leftover cake and beer.
Pictures of Sunday – https://www.flickr.com/photos/681231...57710875363356

steelbikeguy

congrats to David for pulling off such a neat event, and to everyone who showed up and participated.
As for myself, I'll have to be content with looking at David's photos and live vicariously.

Steve in Peoria

Drillium Dude 

Yay! @ iab, thanks for your story and the pics. Loved the scenery and of course the bikes on display.

Btw, whomever came up with the idea/execution of the bike placards is awesome. I've attended a lot of shows and this uniform presentation - complete with the ride logo - is the best, hands down.

@iab and @RobbieTunes, you guys sure put on a fabulous event. Kudos

DD

76SLT 

I was the very proud recipient of the prestigious "Best Bianchi" award for my restored red 84.

For those who weren't there, ask me how many Bianchis were entered in the show. Just mine, one Bianchi at this Coppi event! Where were all the Bianchis at? You'd think this event would have been full of them. I know if just one other Bianchi had been there, it would have beaten my bike, but I was honored to accept the beautiful award that David made for this event. He really outdid himself with every part of the weekend. Thank you David and Robbie for putting this event on. Hopefully it was just the "first" annual.

iab

I have seen similar at Cirque events and I do it for any show I put on. My difference is that I require attendees to register their bikes. That way all of the info is printed instead of hand-written which was the norm at Cirque. I think my method is more uniform. It is the compulsive German in me. If you look closely at the pictures you will see everything is pink (5 Giro wins) and celeste (Bianchi) down to the silverware.

nomadmax 

All I can say is wow, that was one of the greatest cycling events I've EVER been a part of. Thank you @iab & @RobbieTunes for your incredible efforts. I have no pictures to speak of but the images and experience will always be there.

BRAVO!

crank_addict

Best Bianchi by default! With all the registered Bianchi's and only one at the show-----¿

Anyways,


Catalogo collezioni - Bicicletta da corsa - museoscienza

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Many thanks again, Dave!

francophile 

Still in its new home, safe and sound! I actually just got the last few Campy bits for it after researching exhaustively to figure out what make/model it was and roughly how it was equipped! These bikes were about as varietous with their models as the Swiss Super Mondias of roughly the same timeframe!

Pretty sure it's a Milano San Remo Super Triomphe, the Milano Sanremo had no "C" panto on the fork crown.

But here's a picture of a few different models in order, in the spirit of the thread. I have more of each of these if anyone is interested. First is the Coppi Campionissimo (silver), next is the Milano Sanremo (sky blue), last (red) is the Milano Sanremo Super Triomphe. Then the Coppi Tour de France (pewter). Last is the Coppi Milano Sanremo Super (metallic blue).

RobbieTunes

It is absolutely FITTING that Bernie won the Bianchi award.

He brought and showed an Ironman.
It was real, and it was spectacular.

Chrome Molly

Not much to add, other than to say thanks to Dave and Robbie for all their efforts to put on the show. Probably the best collection of vintage bikes that I've seen. I was happy to bring my bikes to make the truly special ones look that much better.

iab

Actually, your Anderson was in contention for Best Modern. It came down to the straight fork. It didn't garner the points of the Mercks curved fork.