A good friend who's been out of the loop for awhile with extreme personal business thought about me.
He had to settle his dad's estate - the cool outcome, he brought home his dad's cherry Model A, and has since become the Program VP for the local car club.
He established his hobby business restoring antique bicycles, partly because his real job with heavy equipment mfg included traveling with a trade show van. Every town he visited, he previewed craigslist and made appointments to view and buy what interested him.
Also in this tough time, his grown son across the country got into legal trouble.
My friend sold $8000 from his bike collection to help, including a 1939 Umberto Dei condorino (Mussolini-era Italian city bike).
But through that carnage, he held out this '86 Mercian - we never talked about it - he just knew I would want it.
I picked it up last weekend, and got to see the A-model.
And since I'm showing, here are the photos I took before of the stunning Dei, well-received by its new owner in California.
He still has more than a few bikes, including his favorite Gloria and Team 7Eleven that rode in TdF.
Here's that newest toy
