The Sickness--My Bikes

My first bike was a Schwinn Typhoon. Black. Two speeds, coaster breaks, rear baskets.

My second bike was a Schwinn Suburban. Green. Ten Speeds. Upright handle bars. I was thirteen.

My third bike was a patched together Gitane Interclub frame with miscellaneous wheels and cranks and a headset that didn't fit the fork or frame so it rattled. I was sixteen. I rode that bike from Seattle to San Diego in 1976 when I was seventeen. (What were my parents thinking?) I still have that bike in my garage.

My fourth bike was a Trek 620. Reynolds 531 lugged steel frame, braze-on mounts for everything, nice touring bike. I got that one when I was 24, which is now 24 years ago. It's still my primary road bike, but I've been tinkering, and that tinkering has led me to Rivendell Bicycle Works. (More later.)

My fifth bike was a cheapo Fuji hybrid purchased online from Performance Bike. It arrived pretty crushed up, but once I trued the wheels, pulled the derailer out of the spokes, and got used to the bent cranks, it has been a pretty good commuting bike. It gets me the five miles to and from, and who'd want to steal it? Once I added the Nitto Stem and Albatross handlebars (with cork grips)--yes, from Rivendell Bikes--it became really quite a pleasure to ride, in its crippled sort of way. It's covered with reflective tape and has a big basket lashed to the back rack--very convenient.

My sixth bike was a Trek Mountain bike bought from the university surplus store, which I use for riding on sandy dirt roads in northern Michigan. Except I don't much. I think I'll give that bike to my son.

My seventh bike . . . Well, stay tuned.