IT'S ONLY MONEY, RIGHT?

7 September 2002

Somehow I knew that the "free" breakfast Cindy treated me to on our ride to Winters a week ago was going to cost me a heck of a lot more than a bowl of oatmeal. We made that ride on Monday, Labor day.

On Tuesday, other than riding my bike to the gym, I didn't really ride it much at all.

On Wednesday, Cindy showed up for our morning ride and as I got on my Specialized bike...all 40 lbs of it...and began huffing and puffing again, trying to keep up with her, shifting down, down down to a rideable gear, I began to realize that I. wanted. a. new. bike.

I had discovered the world of lightweight and I wasn't going to be satisfied with 40 lbs any more. Even if it did give me a better aerobic workout than Cindy was getting on her lightning fast featherweight.

By now I know a bit about bikes, and I'm not exactly a babe in the woods, ready to be led around by the nose and just saying "I'll take one of those too" when someone else orders bike parts. I had a sense of what I wanted.

I knew that I wanted a "hybrid." I didn't want a heavy mountain bike, or a lightweight touring bike. I wasn't ready for the latter, and I have enough problems with bumps on bike paths to know that I won't soon be hurtling down any mountain trails in the foreseeable future--unless there is reincarnation and I come back in a much younger, much hardier body.

I knew that I wanted an odometer, I wanted a headlight and I wanted a padded seat with a cut-out for all those tender parts that complained so much on the ride to Winters. But that's pretty much all I needed. Oh...and Shimano components. I don't really know what those are, but Secra has them, she says they're cool, and if I'm going to be dumb enough to buy two bikes in one year, I should at least look cool.

Armed with this much knowledge, I had some confidence when I went bike shopping the other day. I wasn't ready to buy, but I had 15 minutes to kill while waiting for an order to be ready at Kinko's and Kinko's is across the street from "bicycle row." I could stand on the street corner and hit at least 3 shops without hardly breaking a sweat.

I went into the first shop and found a friendly clerk. "I'm just looking," I told him, and explained that I really needed a lighter weight bike. He started showing me bikes. He talked about things like the Kevlar beaded Turbo clincher, and body geometry grip, and disc brake adapters. I saw "pretty green bike." It was obvious we weren't exactly speaking the same language.

"I'll probably be back," I said.

I went on to the next store. This place is owned by racer Steve Larson, who once was a friend of our kids. They are working on fixing the seat of my Specialized bike and I went in to see if the part they ordered had come in. While they were checking, I started looking at the bikes there. My brain started to go into shock when I saw all those commas in the prices. Though I am a fool, there is a limit to my folly, and even I can't justify $1,000 for a bike that will take me to get a bowl of oatmeal in Winters.

This was starting to look not quite as much of a no-brainer as I thought.

I put out the call. I posted a message to the BOOBs and got good advice from Haggie, Jenipurr, and Secra.

I also sent an SOS to a guy I know who now lives in Maryland, but who worked for years at a bike shop in Davis and would not only be able to give me advice on what I should get, but also tell me where to get it.

I also started to wonder if I was out of my ever lovin' mind. I had only been riding for just a few months and already I was thinking of spending another several hundred dollars on another bike. Who did I think I was? Haggie?

I started to think it was a nice "someday" dream. Maybe Santa would bring me a lightweight bike for Christmas.

Then I went riding with Cindy again this morning. Once again, I down shifted to 4 to try to keep up with her. I huffed and puffed. She coasted along to allow me time to catch up. I started telling her I really, really wanted a new bike. I also told her about my bike store experiences.

"I don't know enough to buy a bike on my own," I said. She agreed.

I told her I'd have to do a lot more research before I committed myself to another expensive bike purchase. She agreed.

Then she said those momentous words: "You know, they have a bike just like Amy's down at Ken's Bike Shop. My ears picked up. A bike like Amy's? A bike like the one I rode out to Winters? A bike like the one I'd come to love in just a few hours time?

"It's even the same color," she said.

The same color? The same pretty soft muted blue color?

And then she put the nail in the coffin: "It's on sale. And they only have two left--a man's and a woman's."

I couldn't get to Ken's fast enough. "That one," said, pointing to the pretty blue bike (which just happens to have Shimano components, so it's a Very Cool Bike). I told him I wanted an upgraded seat--padded, but maybe not so wide as my big ol' bike seat--but definitely with a cut out for all the sensitive parts. And an odometer, so I can continue to bore everyone with how far I've biked. And a light so I can ride after dark, which I do at least 3 times a week.

It was all over in 15 minutes. I whipped out my well worn credit card and proved I am, indeed, the queen of instant gratification. "The Blue Angel" was now mine.

I went to work while they fixed my bike the way I wanted it, but I left work early so I could get it before dinner.

When I brought the Specialized home, it sat in the carport for a couple of days while I struggled with myself, knowing that sooner or later I would have to actually get on it and start riding. But I was on the Blue Angel the second I got it unloaded. I zipped around the block at the highest gear, going 13 mph, which was unheard of on the Specialized. I was in love already.

So now I've become a one-woman 2-bike family. I'm keeping the Specialized because it has a basket and I can use it to haul groceries and produce home from the Farmer's Market. It will also give me a good workout when I feel the need to do some huffing and puffing. But I can hardly wait till tomorrow morning when I'll take the Blue Angel out on the road and see how she handles hills.