Pedal Power

Dan and I are officially the dorkiest people on the planet as of 7:00pm this evening. Here’s a bit of the story:

One of my goals for the Bush Money (re: Stimulus Check) was to buy Dan a bike, so we could go on rides together. Now that I’ve been down to the Springwater Corridor Trail that runs a few blocks away from our house, I’ve been obsessively plotting Dan and I taking long and fun romantical bike rides together.

The unfortunate part of that equation, of course, being Dan lacking a bike.

Which is made even tougher by his height/weight ratio. In the biking world, folks in his class are known as Clydesdales which is a bizarre term, because it makes me think of giant horse feet and furry white manes, not beefy dudes.

But whatev. Basically I ended up doing a lot of frustrating and fruitless searching on bike forums.

Here comes rant numero uno. Bicyclists are insane. They will spend thousands of dollars on bikes, the way people will spend thousands on their cars, houses, etc.

I’ve spent maybe in the area of $200 on the free bike my dad found in an apartment – abandoned. And you know what, it does the same thing a $1000 bike does…but for less.

So – all of these sites were insisting that I needed to pay at least $700 for a “decent” bike that would support Dan’s weight and height class. What I absorbed mostly from all this insight (and fancy terms – bike forums are full of fancy bike language) – was that in order to be a reliable mode of exercise, Dan would need a 26″ inch frame, and a wheel that boasts at least 36 spokes. Also, the tire needed to be thicker and wider than the one on my old-70’s-ass-Schwinn.

After browsing Craigslist for the last couple of days, with bike prices falling around $300 for what I was looking for in town (or $100 for a trip out to Hillsboro or Camas), I quickly determined the best and most expedient route would be to get a low-end bike at Target.

We settled on a Men’s Schwinn Clear Creek Comfort Bike.

So now we both have Schwinn’s, which we are chaining up together underneath our condo steps. We rode over to my parent’s house this evening to test out the new wheels and show them off a little. And we were actually complimented by random strangers in our little suburb on the appeal of our beauties.

Dan’s bike is pretty attractive, I will admit. He has the kick-ass rack in the back, so he could attach saddle bags and haul groceries. The best I could accomplish for hauling on mine would be a basket in the front.

Sure, his bike is on the cheap side. It doesn’t have tricked out suspension and it can’t stop on a dime and it’s not equipped for commuting. We didn’t get expert service, a lifetime warranty, or any of that crap.

But again – I must state – it’s a fucking bike. And it can get him from point A to point B without breaking or snapping or badness ensuing due to his body size.

And to me – well, that’s the point. If this were a mode of transportation, or a commuter bike – I would invest around $500 or more in it. But it’s basically to give us an interesting activity on the weekends, for entertainment and to save a little gas money on the close trips (Blockbuster, My parents, The Library, The Quik-E Mart).

I will admit though – I had a couple nerd surges this evening looking at our Schwinn’s tucked up together.

Much Love, Mindy C