President and Mrs. Carter's Rivendells

[David Carner]

I am placing this in a new thread so as not to perpetuate the one that predictably devolved into internecine squabbling. My observations are based on the recollection that this story of stolen bicycles caused a similar kerfuffle on the forum that preceded this one. 

I am fairly sure that Mark Roland was correct when he postulated that the Rivendells were kept at the Carter residence in Plains and the story of replaced and stolen bicycles at the Carter Center in Atlanta was unrelated. Unfortunately the linked article from January, 2009, included a photo of President Carter on his Riv. That photo has been separately identified as being taken in Plains. In addition, a google search brings up a short youtube video of President Carter arriving in downtown Plains on his Riv.

Based on his health issues, I doubt that President Carter has ridden any bicycle in some time.  I have no idea where his Rivendells are now, but based on his track record I would guess that they have been passed on in a responsible and meaningful way.

I had hoped someone with more first hand knowledge and/or research skills would set the record straight, but since that has not happened I decided to share my observations. If they are inaccurate, I will be happy to be corrected.

David

[Joey Robinson]

I heard back from Pete from Outback Bikes. They said that the Carters were replacing bikes that they kept at the Freedom Park (Carter Center) location and the Rivendell bikes were kept in Plains, GA.

They also mentioned they've been servicing the Carters bikes in Atlanta for some time and the Carters generally donate all their old bikes to other members of the community.

So my plans to acquire and restore these bikes were dashed, but at least they're in a good place.

-Joey in Atlanta

[Christopher Cote]

Joey, I'm glad to hear that. I was afraid it might be something like "Yeah, they had these old, heavy steel bikes with kickstands and paperboy handlebars. Didn't even have indexed shifting. The new Globes were a huge upgrade. We played dumpster toss with the old bikes until the frames were unrideable. Took a long time, though!"

Chris