Wednesday, August 11, 2004
My New Bike!
i love my new bike. Its a Jamis and it is new and mine. I bought it a week ago and its been satisfying both times i've ridden it. I went to a bunch of different bike shops here in asheville looking for one. What ive noticed is that theres a huge "we ride bikes" universe out there.
I went into one shop and i could tell it was the family friendly store. there was a golden retriever laying on the floor waiting for some petting and they had these tow-behind tent on wheel things that you put your kids in hanging from the ceiling. I knew i wanted a rode bike and i looked at what was in stock. Ana was with me so i thought i'd tell her all about bikes.
It turns out all i know is that road bikes have the curly handle bars and mountain bikes have the straight ones. oh! and that there are some bikes, called "fixed gear" bikes that only have one gear and you cant ever stop peddling.
so nobody would make eyecontact with me at the family store, so i went down the street to the next bike shop. This was the hooligan bike shop, manned by beautiful people who were skinny and smelled bad. I felt the sudden need to live there. renounce all my uncool ways and promise to only wear white tanktops and baggy cargo shorts.
unfortunatly, everytime i tried to grab someone's attention, all i'd get was a noncommital lip curl. so i moved on to the next place.
This last place was a keeper. not too family friendly, not too edgy. It was just right. the folks at Biowheels were friendly and they filled me full of info that, while i didnt understand, made me feel more like I was part of the conversation. in some language unknown to me .
The bike is a Crossbike, which means that if i wanted to take it over gravel or some light trails, i can. It has the clip-in pedals, which i've never used before. once you're clipped in, you cant pull your feet out. you have to swivel. its hard to remember to swivel once you start falling over, so everytime i come to a stop sign or traffic light i have to chant "swivel swivel" over and over. Im getting used to it. The crotch squashing is alittle uncomfortable though. If it continues to be unpleasant i'll probably get one of those cutaway seats so your junk can hang free. I cant wait.
I went into one shop and i could tell it was the family friendly store. there was a golden retriever laying on the floor waiting for some petting and they had these tow-behind tent on wheel things that you put your kids in hanging from the ceiling. I knew i wanted a rode bike and i looked at what was in stock. Ana was with me so i thought i'd tell her all about bikes.
It turns out all i know is that road bikes have the curly handle bars and mountain bikes have the straight ones. oh! and that there are some bikes, called "fixed gear" bikes that only have one gear and you cant ever stop peddling.
so nobody would make eyecontact with me at the family store, so i went down the street to the next bike shop. This was the hooligan bike shop, manned by beautiful people who were skinny and smelled bad. I felt the sudden need to live there. renounce all my uncool ways and promise to only wear white tanktops and baggy cargo shorts.
unfortunatly, everytime i tried to grab someone's attention, all i'd get was a noncommital lip curl. so i moved on to the next place.
This last place was a keeper. not too family friendly, not too edgy. It was just right. the folks at Biowheels were friendly and they filled me full of info that, while i didnt understand, made me feel more like I was part of the conversation. in some language unknown to me .
The bike is a Crossbike, which means that if i wanted to take it over gravel or some light trails, i can. It has the clip-in pedals, which i've never used before. once you're clipped in, you cant pull your feet out. you have to swivel. its hard to remember to swivel once you start falling over, so everytime i come to a stop sign or traffic light i have to chant "swivel swivel" over and over. Im getting used to it. The crotch squashing is alittle uncomfortable though. If it continues to be unpleasant i'll probably get one of those cutaway seats so your junk can hang free. I cant wait.
# posted by joel @ 6:00 PM 
