Page 18 - PBCJuly2012

18 Pickwick Bicycle Club Magazine. Volume 9 No.2 July 2012

There is much already written of the leaning Tower, and as I sat nearby with an Italian beer then
the thought was that it would be beyond my words to add anything new. My lasting impression of
the place, outlined as the Tower stands with a pink wash from the evening sun, is of the
orchestrated, indelible, high pitched music sounded by the jet-black, jet-fast swooping birds that
loop and swirl. It all confirms and reminds me that so many people - and the sharp-winged,
shrilling Swifts, too - come such a great distance to see all this.

Perhaps if those people, or Charles Dickens, or I could get that birds-eye look at the Tower,
perhaps it wouldn't look to lean so much when you are flying around the gleaming stonework of
what must truly be the world's most famous building. Grab a look whilst it still stands!

Peter Lumley, who is a regular guest at the Pickwick functions at the Connaught, writes about
things that connect tourism and the bicycle, with the countryside, and with sustainable travel. His
career began on an Essex weekly newspaper, from where he moved into the London publishing
scene, working from Fleet Street before moving "up west" and to the responsibility for editorial
control and direction across several key specialist and b2b publications. He is now based in North
East England, working with the family-owned publications operation. Among recognition for his
writing and photography is the Award for Services to Tourism, conferred upon him by H.M. The
King of Spain.
The photo here is of the famous Coppi-Bartali bidon
exchange, the photo was signed to Peter Lumley by
Gino Bartali at the Milan bicycle trade show in Nov
1981. "I saw Fausto Coppi race - an inspiration that
cemented my interest in the bicycle race scene, and
in Italy especially".

contact points: Twitter @prlumley
peter@tradeandindustry.net
www.tradeandindustry.net

.............................