Gerardo Remembered
We - those in Andy Hampsten's Cinghiale bike touring community - have lost a great companion, Gerardo Carpentieri. Sweet, uncomplaining, always accommodating. A rumpled bear, he was far more than traveling companion, driver, mechanic, support person, and friend. He was a placid and stabilizing influence as schedules tightened and conflicted, always ready with a hug or smile, or philosophical shrug, as needed.
I was sometimes the beneficiary of his skills. When our own bikes went astray in transit on our very first tour, Gerardo loaned us two beautiful Colnago C40s from his Tuscany bike shop. They were yellow with Ferrari red logos and lettering and Campy derailleurs. Despite its beauty, mine distressingly derailed off the front chainring both ways, both to the inside and outside, off the right down onto the crank and right pedal, or off the left down onto the bottom bracket beneath the small chainring. In repeated rides and sessions, Gerardo precisely adjusted tensions, stops, attending to all the lovely Swiss-watch-like Campy bits, everything. But the chain still derailed both ways. He tried every adjustment possible, making surgical micro-adjustments to the jewel-like parts. It still derailed both ways. There were repeated adjustments, test rides, and derails. Finally Gerardo shrugged. He had a gift for expressive shrugs. This shrug conveyed both weariness and determination. He produced a big pipe wrench suitable for industrial plumbing, closed its jaws on the gloriously beautiful Campy front derailleur, and gave it a serious half-grunt tweak, a pry with a twist, that was both precise and bear-like. He then sent me out on another test ride. The derailleur worked perfectly. It never mis-shifted again. I've always wondered whether the Campy manual said anything about pipe wrenches.
Here are a few pictures culled from many tours with him, a search that was both sad and joyous as it reminded me of him, our loss, and happier times. They are in more-or-less chronological order.
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Thanks, Gerardo.
Comments
After a lifetime of mainly expressing myself with words, my postings here will mainly rely on images. They will speak for themselves to some extent, but I'll usually add a few comments of explanation. I've taken photographs for decades, since the 1950's, inspired in part by my father's photographic skill. Four years of photo assignments and quality darkroom time eventually gave way to decades of casual and family picture-taking. I re-immersed myself when I left film and turned to digital.