Bike Bike Bike

Bike 1

The Blue Bike of Bitterness is gone. A while ago I wrote a post about how owning the bike was bothering me and hinted at a bitter story that I glossed over. Today, I smudge the gloss to give you the short version: every time I rode that damn bike, I thought about how, instead of paying me back the money that he owed me, an ex bought me a bike that was a crappier version of the bike he bought himself.

It occurred to me that maybe not owing the bike was a good idea. Shelley bought it as a second, more speedy bike, for when she doesn't feel like cruising on her Townie.

Now she's got wheels with a good story, and I don't have to press my crotch up against something that reminds me of my ex.

Bike 2

Replacing the BBB was a two part plan. When I moved into my apartment, the woman who'd lived here before me was in the middle of fixing up a bike. She asked if I wanted it or should she put it out. I thought it would be a neat summer project and told her to leave it.

Well, last summer I decided that drinking and hanging out were much more enticing than learning how to put that bike back together. And I still had the BBB, so there wasn't much incentive.

This spring, my life being a much more stable and happier place to be, I decided it was time to learn something new. I yoinked all the various parts out of the basement and spent too much time in the damp falling apart lean-to off my kitchen. As it turns out, this bike was pretty easy to put together.

I learned how to change a tire and which way the fenders went. That was pretty much it. Not so hard at all, though it did necessitate a couple trips to Preston Hardware for bolts of varying sizes and saw me springing up from the table during drinks at the Carleton Tavern with Eric, Patrick and Nathan when I found out that Nathan had a bike with a coaster brake that was not only in working condition, but locked up outside.

Sadly, it's not quite ridable. For one, this bike was made for someone with shorter gams. So I need to get a longer seat post. I might consider riding it to Tim's Used Sports Equipment to get a longer seat post if the chain didn't keep falling off.


That, I can't figure out so well. I'm hoping it's just because I tightened the rear bolts with my delicate lady-hands, and that after I get Eric and his strapping man-hands to tighten the bolts, the rear wheel will be fixed in place both firmly and far back enough to prevent this from happening.

Perhaps then you will spy me tooling around town with groceries in the wicked giant front basket.


Bike 3

But who knows when that will be. Often, as soon as I think of Eric's strapping man-hands, my mind wanders to better applications than bolt-tightening.

And the Pleasant Blue Bike has only one speed, which is not so great for going on actual bike rides.

With the proceeds from selling the BBB, I bought this beauty from the extraordinarily nice people at the aforementioned Tim's. If you need bikes or bike parts, you should go there. I talked to three different people and they were happy and pleasant and went out of their way to make my purchase pleasant, even though I was only spending $70.


I really like it. Even though it's kinda crappy, and clanks and squeaks every time I go over even a very small bump. I can go at a decent clip on it, and it is very shiny. It was built in the 70s, like me and most of my furniture. It is also French - it's a Le Circuit. This is unlike me and most of my furniture.