"new" bike

Seeing that we just got a "new" van, I didn't want to be spending money on another transportation device. But this transportation device was once well loved. I got my bike at Cyclesport on Davenport in my third year at U of T. It was an exciting purchase. It was probably the first larger purchase I made on my own. It was a Raleigh Kilimanjaro, lower mid-range bike, but I tore off the stickers to prevent it from being too showy and get stolen. So all I have to show for is scratchy red paint showing off an aluminum frame and no labels. I remember proudly riding off with it... I rode to campus even in the winter and it was such a rush passing all the cars stuck in traffic on my way to and from campus. Once I carried too many books, about 40 lbs of it, packed to the max in my 40L MEC backpack. I rode to campus just after the ground was covered in a bit of flurries. I never fallen once on the winter roads in Toronto because you can usually find the ashfalt groove and ride it. This time there were no ashfalt paths, just a light layter of powered slippery snow. I did fine at first riding an average clip. And I should have just kept riding at the same speed. I slowed down at a quiet intersection to let another biker go through and all of a sudden I was horizonal on the ground and my head had hit the road on impact. It was so sudden I didn't know what happened. Fortunately, there was no car beside or behind me, they would have ran me over. And I was riding with a helmet and it had extra padding in it because I always have an ear/head band to cover my ears from getting frozen riding in the cold. The other cyclist let out a "oh! you ok?!" And I let out some kind of funny comment to make fun of myself and let her know I was fine. And all that to say that I just realized I had an attachment to my bike.

Yesterday, I took the kids out for a ride with the bike trailer in tow. The two of them banging their helmets together having a great time. More like Hannah banging her helmet into Elijah's and encoruaging her more by giving her the belly laugh every time she did it. It was a good ride, but only ten minutes into it I my back was sore and I was pushing myself up trying to hold on to the tip of the handle bars, which is not very safe for braking. I don't know why it took so long for me to realize but I don't think I have ever totally enjoyed riding my bike because I am so slouched over. I may as well be racing. And I guess I didn't notice too much in university because I was always racing to class.

So I finally decided that I am moving on the fact that I need a "new" bike. I have been eyeing and thinking about this for at least a year now. Today, we went to Backpeddlers, a used bike store here that I've heard about from others. They were really nice. I saw a used bike that was quite reasonable and I test drove it. It was way more upright and I almost instantly said I would buy it. Then I saw a little sticker on the bike "George Vettor's Cycle"--a store near our house. Somehow, I thought hmmm, somebody paid probably not much more for this bike and now I'm buying it... somehow the thought entered my mind, "I'm getting ripped off."

I ended up showing the main guy at the store my bike and he actually accessed how much it would cost to buy a bike comparable to the one I had. And it was actually almost exactly what I paid for tmy bike new! It was pretty impressive. He said I had good components so I'm better off paying the price to do the things he suggested on it. I figured I could shorten the stem but I was excited that he said I could also bring the seat forward. That was the first thing he pointed out. Apparently, my seat was pushed as far back as it could go, and all this time I could have moved it up just a bit to make things a bit nicer on my back. But wow, from what he described, it looks like I get a new bike withough having to part with my bike. I could have traded it in, and I think they would have gotten a good deal by doing that. The cost works out to be about the same as the George Vettor bike. But my bike is definitely better. And I think it was almost intuitive when I went to go get my bike and pushed it after just pushing the GV bike. There was actually a big different even how it rode. Good thing, they didn't try to scam me, cuz I think I was a prime candidate.

I will take a while since they had at least 40 bikes to repair... looked like China. But the kids are going to get much longer rides banging their helmets together.