Bike bike

This morning I had no bike. Now I have two.

One is a cute red cruiser, the type that you pedal backwards to brake. I googled to find out more about it and it appears that it is actually a Huffy bike. I shall strive to move beyond the embarrassment of owning a bike normally associated with a Green Machine tricycle. It needs a tuneup and a rear tube, possibly a new seat. But it is *red*. And missing the basket which was pictured in the ad, but that is cheaply fixed. Not bad for 40 bucks.

The other is a blue Trek 490 mountain bike. At his goodbye gathering, Kurt held up a key and offered the bike that his movers had missed in all the packing. It took about 45 minutes to find it on campus (lots of wandering in my car and trying to figure out where building 1114 was, when what I was actually looking for was 1115), and then trying to not look like a bike thief while puzzling out which bike was his. It has been out in the weather for a few years and is not in the best of shape. I was thinking that I would prefer riding it over the cruiser, but after determining that it was going to cost more to fix up, I'm going to turn it into an exercise bike. I've already got a decent used bike trainer that has been gathering dust in my office, so as soon as I figure out how to lower the rusted seat I'm all set. WD40 and a couple of hammer whacks should do it.

To be honest, part of the reason that I'm turning the more expensive and higher quality bike into an exercise bike is that it has already dumped me on my ass. I was checking it out in my backyard, climbed onto it, lost my balance (hey, it is really muddy back there), and promptly fell onto my patio, knocking over half my plants, a metal folding chair, and scraping up both legs. Must remember to buy Bactine.

My sophomore year of high school I rode my bike most every day. It was about 3.5 miles round trip. And then I got my first car. I think that was the last time I rode a bike. That would have been about 18 years ago (damn, I'm old). But now I'm going to be a biker again! Er, bike rider. What are we called now...?