Transporting...

I lost an old friend yesterday. A classic Motobene 10-speed bicycle. I drove it to distraction and dislocation. It was an old, well-cared-for recycled bicycle when I bought it off a guy via Facebook about 4 years ago, and I rode that thing just about every day, thru rain, snow, sleet, mud, high-winds, pelting ice, brilliant sunshine; over pavement, sand, dirt paths, hard trails, smooth roadways. I was hard on that old bike. Most times I rode it for "work" but often I was joy-riding too. And even my day to day rides always seemed to be a bit of a kick. Flying thru the days. I valued it highly, it was cool-looking, black with red-highlights, everything worked. But I was rough with it too. Sometimes it sat out in the elements chained to a post, so it wore the world on its slowly disintegrating frame. Under my watch, it was getting creaky, the brakes were funky, the gears were sticky, I pretty much kept the thing in one gear. The tires were pretty much bald, and a bit wobbly. The chain was sometimes just pure rust, I'd oil it, and  for a brief time, it looked decent, but really that chain was toast. Yesterday the bike fell over, hit the ground hard, and the de-railer broke. I wheeled it to a local bike job to see if I could get a quick repair. Yikes. After the bike tech did an inventory, my $120 bicycle was gonna need about $300 of work to get it back in shape.  What to do? It was suggested I consider purchasing a used bicycle totally refurbished, shiny and new, everything in tip-top shape, it could be mine for $499, ready for pickup in about a week. Ha. Had to dig deep on that idea. Yes, every dollar is hard to come by, I truly do know the value of a buck, my days of labor remind me every day what a dollar means. But, you know, a decent bicycle is not a luxury for me, it is essential, my main mode of transportation, I mean, second to my own two feet, but if I want to get anywhere in the world, in a timely fashion, I need wheels. I pulled the trigger, left my old bicycle in the shop, donated it to the bicycle shop to be recycled once again. Almost like reincarnation. If I think about it, it's almost like trading in my last 4 years, a slice of my own existence, and renewing recharging, putting on another persona. A whole new era begins maybe as soon as next week when I pick up the "new" one. In the meantime, it's gonna be a bit of slog, I mean, you know, "these boots are made for walking…"