Right, so...
Act 3.
Although, aren't plays and films supposed to be in three acts? Which would make this the final act? Which it's not.
Oh well.
So work/life got in the way of picking the bike up for a while. First it was a crazy time with work, and then, tragically, my wife's father passed away suddenly, which resulted in an extended stay in Texas for us both, dealing with the aftermath and heartbreak of all that entails.
It's not a short trip to Marin from here either, around 7hrs, so ideally we needed to find a spare weekend. Mainly because it's just so amazing up there, which means it's better to have some time to spend kicking around the place. That said, eventually the best we could do was a spare Friday and Saturday the week after we returned to LA, so off we drove to Oakland, where we spent the night.
The next morning it was off to see Tim in Mill Valley.
He'd mentioned that GPS wasn't the best for getting to his place, and had given me some directions, first via email and then via phone on our way that morning.
Arriving, you could certainly understand why GPS might struggle: Tim's cabin and land sits on the very end of a very long winding road that snakes up the side of a mountain; first concrete becomes gravel, then gravel becomes dirt, and then the dirt just becomes a mountain!. And not just any mountain. It turns out Tim didn't just ride Mt. Tam, he was raised and still lives on the side of Mt. Tam! And at 70-something years old, is certainly of the generation of guys who many consider to have invented (depending what side of the debate you fall on) this whole thing we're all into.
I'm not saying Tim was part of the repack crew, but there's no way, being where he's from and being into MTB, he's not at last repack adjacent!
In fact, right before you get to his property, there's a sign for both his house, and the Mt. Tam Trail:
Oh, that bike. Yeah, here's a tiny bit more of it:
I'm going to save the rest of the bike pics until the next post, but for now I wanted to give a sense of what I collected and who I collected it from.
Tim was every bit the gentleman he appeared via our communications. He joked about wanting to print out all our emails that morning, just to count them, laughing about how many there must have been over all those weeks of back-and-forth between us. He also expressed very sweet and sincere condolences to my wife. Tim radiated both warmth and positivity, and I could have gladly spent hours in his company. Not least to have asked him countless questions about his life up there, and his time spent riding the area!
Still, we had another 7hr drive ahead of us, and I didn't want to take up too much of his Saturday. I'd occupied his time enough already with all my questions and drawn-out payments! As it turned out, by chance, the final $100 was due the week I collected the bike. So I very happily made that last payment to Tim in person.
There was something special about the bike immediately. Sure, the paint had changed and some of the parts were all over the place, but it had personality and you could tell it had been well-ridden and loved.
Tim spoke fondly of it, was sad to see it go, but, he said, was happy it was going with someone who not only appreciated it for what it was, but was planning to ride it. We looked it over together, and, like me, Tim pointed to the the cable noodle around the seatpost cluster and acclaimed: "That's my favorite part of the whole bike!"
Mine too, Tim.
That and the fact I now get the honor of building and riding it.
A few days later, the bike cleaned-up and the first couple of (temporary) changes made, I emailed Tim to thank him one last time, and to let him know how much I enjoyed his brief company.
His reply:
Back at you man. I really enjoyed meeting you and your wife as well. In fact just after you guys left, my wife came down hoping to meet you and was disappointed she’d missed you. I told her how much I liked you both and that I regretted not asking you up for lunch and a beer. If you are ever in the hood, give me a call, I’d love to go for a ride.
When you talk to Paul, remind him of the color, lilac, that might shake loose a memory or two! Also that it was ordered by a shop called Plane Away. They ordered at least one other from him around the time I ordered mine.
I'll definitely reach back out the next time we're up there, and I'd like to think we'll have a beer and go for that ride!