life in the fast lane
7
→ as you can see, he hammed it up on cinco de mayo. we went for a bike ride around the lake and enjoyed the most perfect weather weekend, except…. on saturday night. i was excited to see the supermoon, stayed up late, but come nightfall it was nothing but full cloud coverage and hail. i gave up right before midnight. phoo. did you see it, and if you did was it beautiful? sort of like the moon in bruce almighty when he lassos it in? that’s what i was imagining.
→ the super exciting news though, my bicycle. it’s a bit of a story. i had a hybrid cruiser/city bike before my motobecane . i loved it, but. it was heavy, half my weight heavy and going up hills was a t total nightmare. after lots of research it was titanium or bust. super light, lasts forever, a bit pricey but last bike i’ll ever need so… i got it. and i love it, but. but, we found ourselves doing a lot of cruising style biking and i got tired of bending over the bike (as you do with mountain/road bikes). i wanted to sit up, see the sights and be on my super light 14 pound bike. he agreed and we have gamely went into multiple bike shops to see about revising the handlebars, only to be met with fierce attitude and refusal to modify. it seems bike store owners are very offended at the thought of altering a bike in a non-normal way, who knew?!
→ it was frustrating, you would think it would be just the opposite, what can they do to get someone biking and loving it, versus avoiding it. so to wrap this up, we persevered (although i kept trying to think of a good “story” i could tell them that was requiring me to make the change so they would be more open to do it without looking at me like i was a loon, but everything i thought of sounded really goofy). we tried again, the guy didn’t have any enthusiasm for the project, did look at me like a loon, but.. BUT, agreed to do it!!! and now, if you look at the above arrows pointing to my pimped-out, curved, should be on a beach cruiser, handlebars, you’ll see my fancy one-of-a-kind bicycle. and i love it. and so does he, he’s getting his done next because after trying mine out and realizing how much more enjoyable it is, he was sold. and, we saw a unicycler on the lake and i don’t think my bike is any goofier than that, not to mention the fact that i couldn’t in a million years ride one.
→ p.s. my neighbor, before hearing my story, started talking about biking and said, i had a beach cruiser, loved it, but (sounding familiar?) it was too heavy, traded it in for a road bike, love the weight but… hate bending over the bike. hmmm. showed her mine, instant love. if there are any bicycle builders reading this, there’s a huge gap (opportunity) in the market! wanted: beach cruiser with good brakes, at least 7 gears, and built with titanium.
Filed Under: life in the fast lane
Tagged: bicycles, cinco de mayo 2012, denver colorado blog, life in the fast lane, motobecane, titanium bicycles
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Your bike looks awesome, I want one!! And, your idea makes perfect sense to me.. I think you’re on to something! I love Sean’s sombrero too
(; i have to say i love it!!! it’s an untapped market.. if only we didn’t have so much going on we could add bike makers to our list (;
I agree Lindsey! It really is amazing that bikes are not made that way, I mean why not?! It totally makes sense…Denver would be the perfecto market foh shoh.
That’s so strange that so many bike shops wouldn’t help you out. You didn’t have a bad request at all and it sounds like it turned out perfect! It looks great on your bike, too. Nice & comfy.
Oh, and we had cloudy, cruddy weather almost all weekend, so definitely no moon to be seen.
you too! phoo!! i heard the moon was gorgeous and i’m sorry we both missed it ); next time in what like 20 years?? (;
Funny. I’m not a bike nut, so I would never know that this is odd. I recently got a new bike. The handlebars are perfect, and I realized that the ones on my old cruiser were awkward and too big for me.
The other funny thing is that I thought the west village bike store in Dallas would be foo-foo and stuffy. Transit Bicycle had the nicest and most interested and friendly guys working in the store. I left with a great feeling and a helmet they called the Solid Gold Dancer.
Note to self….not all Dallasy areas are Dallasy. Yay.
I’m glad you love your bike too!
ok, this comment is great, but i *cannot* get past solid gold dancer, without even seeing it i’m totally envious (; and… every single time i ride my bike i am so much happier and love being on it so much more, totally worth looking like a goon to the bike guys!!