When a person owns seven bicycles and three are in pieces—and two of those three have been disassembled for ... well years, if you really must know—that's not too far from being the biking equivalent of a guy who has a couple of old pickups in the front yard with weeds growing up through the engine compartments.
So I'm conceding defeat. These two old classics—a 1963 Schwinn Typhoon and a '70s-era English 3-speed—have been posted for sale on craigslist along with the frame from my old Trek commuter bike. Despite all my dreams and
good intentions, I'd probably never get around to finishing both of the restoration projects.It's not about the money, it's about the storage space. Well, OK, it's a little bit about the money: My wife keeps talking about calling contractors to get estimates on adding an extra room onto the house to give me a shop and bike-storage space. She's serious, too.
Do you have any idea how much a project like that would cost, or how many bikes and bike trips I'd have to sacrifice to pay it off? Gives me the willies just thinkin' about it. The way I figure it, if she sees fewer dismembered bike carcasses layin' around, maybe she'll forget all this crazy talk about construction projects.
Besides, yesterday I caught myself thinking that the ol' Typhoon might look sort of good as a lawn ornament, and I thought that might be a red flag.
I'll sort of miss these old things.
But not as much as I'd miss the money I'd pay in contractors' fees.
5 comments:
Take the Typhoon, put a basket on the bars and fill'em with flowers, then on the front yard. Next to the knome.
I pretty much rode that same bike when I was 14.
Quick, somebody slap Tim. He's delirious!
Hmmm...My third bike, as a kid, was a hand-me-down red Schwinn Typhoon...and I was born in 1963. Is this some sort of cosmic message that I need to buy that bike from you. I'd really like to, but I definitely have storage space issues.
OK, the Trek frame and the classic Typhoon are gone, and somebody's coming tomorrow to look over the Raleigh.
I'm gonna miss that little Schwinn. I had really looked forward to having a cruiser for the neighborhood. I was about to finish it last fall when I drove into the garage with a bike on my roof rack. That was a crappy day. I got pissed off that night and moved the old bike to the shed because the new repair expenses had just moved the restoration project to the back burner.
Since then, I've bought two new bikes, so my bike maintenance involves four bikes that I use regularly. Somehow, it feels right to jettison a few old ones.
Last night I was delirious when I posted them all for sale. Tonight, it actually feels sort of good.
You passed up the chance for a wife-APPOROVED bike shop???? I just don't understand.....
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