Posted by Bill Werner on September 23, 1999 at 02:39:46:
In Reply to: Curious about you guys posted by hogryder on September 22, 1999 at 23:36:14:
I didn't know that there were many guys still alive who could legitimately claim to be gandy dancers. I thought the automatic track laying equipment of the last 50 or so years had pretty much eliminated the career field of John Henry and his ilk. But who's to know for sure?
In any case, I'm in the Washington, DC area, specifically Northern Virginia (I also spent a fair part of my youth in Kensington, Linette, back when Kensington Elementary School was still a real school - and my great granddad was the first mayor of Garrett Park in the last century).
I started riding two-wheeled motor vehicles in 1962, mostly on the great Vespa scooters which were all the rage of the hippy crowd back then. But you probably had to be there to appreciate it. In 1974 I bought a 200cc Vespa with oil injection that was the most reliable machine ever created and I lacked the foresight to hold on to it over the years, but what the hell, that's life.
It took me more than 23 years to convince my wife that I really needed to get back on two wheels again, but when I saw that big jug on the Savage, the message from God was clear. In fact, I still do more miles on a bicycle in a given year than I do on a motorcycle, but my mantra is "The bicycle is good for my heart, but the motorcycle is good for my soul".
I sure am glad that I could get this off my chest.