I Remember My First GABA Bike Swap
Imagine the wide-eyed lad from Phoenix, driving down Tucson way, seeking a classic steel mountain bike, but not having much to pay. He arrives in the wee dawn hours, digs through random crap, gawks at the happy bike people, then BAM! CRACK! WAP! Turning round a corner, we spied her steely hue, calling out BUY ME!, a rigid Trek in icy blue.
She is Mine for a Song
This is What I Came For. Left with Same.
Lots of Other People Came to Swap it Up
A List, and a Kiss
I But I'm Wow Look They Wuh Huh... Oh Man....
He Plots Bike Polo Domination via Superior Fork Selection
The Essence and Challenge of the Swap: Treasure, or Crap?
It was a commando run to Tucson since the pilot needed to be back to wage battle on the field of bike polo. But, we got there early, made a couple of trips up and down the street, skimmed off what was for us the cream of the crop, and headed home with a car full of treasure, and very similar-looking steel Trek mountain bikes. I left, feeling much the same satisfaction as a good VNSA Book sale, but feeling the same sneaking suspicion: is there a secret swap-before-the-swap, where the insiders gather to show each other their boxes of random crap, their sweet stripped frames and classic unbreakable components the night BEFORE the public, we the little people, get access? Maybe, maybe, but on the other hand, I think if you get there early, and catch people putting stuff out, you might just get the deal of the decade. The democracy of the open street market was in full swing out there. You can get anything you want at the GABA Tucson Bike Swap. Bring cash. Arrive early. Get up. Go ride.
Awesome!
ReplyDeleteNice score.