// So anyway…
Posted on Monday, March 15th, 2010
I’ve been absent for a while. A couple months, actually. And I feel bad about that. But it just wasn’t a good time for bicycle blogging for me.
I am an equal opportunity bicycle lover (for the most part–I’m not counting hipsters on fixies, here). I like road riding, I like mountain biking, and though I’ve never done it, I like cyclocross on principle. I’m pretty ok with track riding, too. Oh, and commuting, of course. Since I’m not stuck in a bicycle rut, I like to switch up my riding often. Sometimes riding trails, getting dirty and falling over on the mountain bike, and sometimes cruising on my road bike. But lately my options have been considerably fewer…because my mountain bike was stolen.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my road bike. I picked out a beautiful vintage steel Colnago frame/fork set, put shiny new Campy Veloce 10-speed components on it, and really enjoy riding it. But it will never be to me what my mountain bike was. That bike was a red and silver Gary Fisher Tassajara disc. I bought it my first year of college, and it was my first “real” bike. The first bike that could be ridden in a race without being laughed at. The first bike I bought for myself, that wasn’t some big-box store bike that my dad assembled in the garage. I had to fight hard to get that bike, too. I saved the money, I test rode bikes, and then, after deciding what I wanted, I had the bike shop owner tell me that I should really reconsider a hybrid bike, since girls don’t really ride off road that much. Of course, he had no right to tell me no, and I bought the bike anyway (though in retrospect, I should have gone to a different shop and denied him the business). I rode it to my classes, I rode it on trails, I raced with it, I generally spent some time loving that bike. And someone took it from me.
The whole experience was disheartening. It took me over a month to even get on my road bike again. I felt violated. I felt like I had let my bike down. If only I’d been riding it when the thief had come around! If only I’d put a bigger lock on it! If only I had kept it in my apartment instead of in my parking garage (which requires a remote or fob to gain entry and has security cameras).
I’m not totally over it, but I feel as though I can move on now. I’m going to get a new bike. I don’t know what kind–I feel like I have to get another hardtail Fisher out of respect for what I’ve lost. But at the same time, maybe I can upgrade to a full suspension. Maybe losing the Tassajara is a good excuse to buy a nice fancy Santa Cruz. I don’t know. But I’ll definitely keep you posted.
So anyway…back to blogging. There’s a lot that’s going on…Google has bicycle directions in Google Maps now, I did a gorgeous road ride in Napa, and it’s spring–more people are out on the roads and trails–time to get out there, get riding, and blog about it. I promise I’ll be more present in the cycling world and on this website moving forward. I just needed the time to mourn my Tassajara. She will be missed.
Each day slowly shapes our lives, as dripping water shapes the stone.