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Saturday, June 05, 2021

Cycling from pink to orange

Bringing it home
London, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram


I've had my pink bicycle for 28 years. Longer than I've been a parent. Almost as long as I've been married. Long enough that it's become an integral part of my identity.

It replaced a banana yellow Bianchi, so clearly I have a thing for brightly colored machines.

Specialized built its Stumpjumper Comp mountain bikes out of some pretty durable stuff, because she has ably carried me for countless thousands of kilometres, and consistently fuelled my passion for a sport that somehow convinces us to roll out of bed before dawn and not stop pedalling until we run out of road.

But everything has its time, and as much as I've loved and bastardized this machine with racks, paniers, and slicks to fit my urban commuting lifestyle, it was time for me to find something else. Something a little faster on long road pulls. Something a little more modern. Something safer, with way better brakes. Something a little more aligned with the kinds of exploring I've been dreaming about for a while.

So the pink machine has now been supplanted by an orange one.

The story of how we came to bring her home is worthy of future Instagram posts, but suffice to say finding any bike amid exploding pandemic-driven interest in cycling has been a monumental challenge. (Huge shoutout to Dan and his @dreamcyclery family for making #newbikeday a day we will never forget, and to my wife for always being game to go on new adventures.)

Adventures take many forms, and as much as we think they require the right machine or equipment, the reality is they require the right people around us. Because even when you're on a solitary ride mashing the pedals past a quietly grazing family of horses, no journey happens without family back home.

And whatever color my bike may be, I wouldn't be able to ride it without them.

I'd write more, but it'll have to wait. Time to take this thing out and see what it'll do.

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Related:
Green lane of death, November 2020
Seven years on, August 2020

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