"I didn't think you could blow my mind, but you did."
-Geoffrey

March 14, 2007
Bike!

Yesterday, I forgot to mention something, what with all the Guitar Hero Happiness going on around here. I have been looking for a bike for a couple of weeks. To ride on. You know, the kind with wheels. Yes. I plan on putting my 230lb body on a bike and expecting my legs to propel me forward with some iota of velocity to prevent me from falling over sideways into traffic.

Geoff has a bike and when it is nice (ie: in 2 days when all the road ice and snow are gone) he rides daily. He wants to go for longer rides. I'll let him go around the block with our neighbor Thane... but that's it. I don't want him going any farther. He wants to go for long rides. On trails for a number of miles. And that is a problem when mom lets you go Lanen to Washington to Salem to Center to Washington to Lanen and the front door.

That's a mile and a half. And he can do that five times over before coming in, bored out of his tree.

So yesterday, I found a good looking bike online at Craigslist, and the guy lives the next town over from me. I contacted him and he invited me up to check it out on the way home from work.

The bike is a Bridgestone MB-3 , which I'd never heard of. I'm used to names like Schwinn, Raleigh, Trek and the like. The link to the catalog there is really interesting -- the entire history of the bike is found here on this enthusiast's website.

The man selling it is no longer riding off road and on trail. He is going to stick with his Trek, with its gossamer thin tires (road tires frighten me, they are so thin and bald looking!). I wanted something that could handle mostly road, paved trails or manicured trails. I'm not looking to ride in the forest and really get into the mud and off-road insanity with a bike. And he said that this bike is that bike, the bike that says "I'm a mountain bike, but you may want to ride me on sanctioned trails in the National Parks Service instead of down the side of some untrailed mountain."

This may be the perfect bike for me.

Then, the scary part happened.

He took me for a test drive.

Now, I think the last time I was on a bicycle was 1985. So this was a little scary. I got up on, did the first pedal and plopped my right foot onto the swinging about pedal and just went... seriously convinced that I was about to spill. Pothole! Oh nose! OMG! puddle! AAAAARRRGGHH!

The seller came with me on his bike and we toodled around his neighborhood. He showed me how to shift (when did shifting become so complicated???) He called me a pro for a rookie, and we both laughed. I said I was less a rookie and more a benchwarmer, and now I'm off the bench and remembering why I got into the majors. We had a good laugh at that. After a while, the shifting was easy. We were going 8 mph and it felt like flying and soaring and it was a lot of fun. We rode side by side down the country lanes surrounding his home, and the light began to fade. As did the strength in my knees. So we headed back to his house and up the driveway. According to the little computer, we went 2 miles. In no time.

It was wicked fun.

When I got off the bike, my legs felt like jello. My heart was pounding. I felt happy.

I want this bike.

It retailed for $950 in 1994. He's selling it for $350 with the computer, and a few other little doo-dads and gadgets like a blinking back light (in case traffic approaching me from behind can't tell if I am a bicyclist or a billboard).

I'll keep you posted.

Anyway -- off for a quick visit to Cateringman. He can't get into his email and wants me to help. Which gladly I shall. More later.