Last winter, we stopped into a local bike shop for a part for Rob’s bike. It survived the move across the country but we needed few bits and bobs to make it road-worthy. We looked at bikes for me and found one we liked but alas, money was an issue and we decided to wait.
I had Friday off work and we ran a few errands. We stopped at our favorite bakery for sandwiches and I suggested looking at bikes at the shop next door. A few hours later, we were loading my new bike into the back of the car! I’ve been bitten by the cycling bug and we have spent the last 3 days riding all over a local bike path.
More later…
[Ed. – Here’s a couple of photos. The bike we bought this weekend is a Trek Navigator 2.0. The first photo is from Trek’s website; the second is a shot of our bikes in the back yard. Kristi’s black Trek is the one in the front. ]
Good For You! You 2 make a good team.
We’ve been having a lot of fun. We picked out a black Trek Navigator and then tricked out both our bikes with new gear. Right now Kristi’s the beauty and brains (lightweight aluminum frame, shocks, new components, trip computer, etc.) and I’m the brawn (20-year-old frame, 8-year-old components, no shocks, the cargo hauler). 🙂
We’ll post photos of the bikes as soon as I get around to taking a camera back into the garage.
It feels good to be riding seriously again (especially in NorCal weather – 80, 70 in shade, very little humidity). Nearby Dry Creek Trail is almost 10 miles round trip; it has the advantage of being a block away from home, but we’ve done it almost four times this weekend and now it’s starting to feel too short. We’re starting to look at longer trails and rides around Northern California.
We still need to get some good bike racks for the car before we can do that.. then we’re looking forward to taking the bikes down to 17 Mile Drive and down the Pacific coast at Asilomar. It’s an incredible car drive – seriously, breathtakingly beautiful, crashing blue waves and rocky crags and sea otters and islands in the distance. It’s GOT to be a fantastic bike ride. Can’t wait to get out there. We’ll probably take that ride after Kristi’s out of school in June.
Photos up!
Really glad to see you getting back into biking.
I know how much you must have missed it this last year.
Looks like California is where you’re supposed to be.
It seems to be a good fit, but you knew that years ago.
Wow! So fun. Matt and I want to look into getting me a road bike too. Like you guys, money is our first stumbling block. We’ll get one soon enough.
Recently, we bought both of us these old his and her bikes on Craigslist. They’re decent if there are no hills around. However, I want to ride longer distances than we can ride on those.
I actually want a road bike that I do triathlons with. Matt and I want to try and train for them. I think it would help me regularly exercise because I have a PURPOSE for it. It’s hard to get motivation (Matt has no problem in that area haha). It will also be fun to mix up our workouts between swimming, running, and biking.
Miss you guys! Hope all else is going well. Kristi, school is almost out…yay!!!
Glad to hear you guys are on the road, too!
The cool part (or at least, one of the cool parts) of cycling is that while it may be an expensive hobby to start, it’s an extremely cheap hobby to maintain.. you buy a good bike, you’ve got a good bike forever. Especially if you learn your way around a bike wrench as well.
I bought mine at a Sam’s Club in Orlando back in 1990, for about $200. I upgraded a few parts in the early 90’s, and then replaced just about everything with new parts in 2000. Nowadays about the only original parts left are the one-piece chromoly frame (back in those days, cheaper frames were heavy spot-welded steel) and the aluminum wheels – everything else was bumped up $50, $60 at a time. If you save your upgrades for year end and buy parts on clearance at a decent bike shop (they have to clear their shelves for the new year’s models), you can do it for even less.
Get a good bike, some good gear, you’ll have it for 20 years. Everything else is just keeping the bolts tight and the muscles from getting bored. 🙂