Looking around Wigglesworth on the first day I had to agree that nearly every possible bike type was represented. There were cyclocross bikes, early British clunkers, mountain bikes, tandems and even a tandem tricycle! All had fenders, even the mountain bikes. Most common were 27-inch British touring bikes like Darryl's International. So there really isn't any such thing as a Rough Stuff bike. That Grant Petersen is pure marketing genius. Makes nice bikes, though.
Our first glimpse of the RSF world also suggested that this cycling club may have more than its share of British eccentrics. Maybe that should read, "This British club has more than its share of cycling eccentrics." For truly, our two-wheeled world is a magnet for 'characters.'
Speaking of eccentrics, I spotted elliptical chainrings on an ancient Highpath, the mid-70s British analog to the US clunker, with tandem forks and thumb shifters. On the toptube, Darryl noted a little label-puncher tag that read "Captain Chantler."
The good Cap'n, Steve to his friends, claimed to own 63 bicycles. Asked what his girlfriend or wife thought of his collection, he confessed that it came down to an ultimatum, her or the bikes. "So I said, 'Bye then, luv. I'll take you anywhere you want to go. Just choose which tandem.'"
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