Thank You Bicycle

Ross Mount Saint Helens with new handlebars and new seat.

Thank you bicycle for who you are and what you stand for in my life. You give me freedom to discover wild bunnies zigzagging across fileds. You provide storage for those trips to the hardware and grocery store, especially on this long holiday weekend. You are the wheels beneath me, spinning freely northward, in spite of thunder and grey skies, which opened up and dumped as I sought refuge beneath a tree. You encouraged me to ride in the rain, just so I could smell wet pavement - a first for 2014.

You are transportation in all it's forms: bypassing thousands of runners during our Vermont City Marathon, pedaling neighborhoods and dirt trails to arrive at a party, or escorting a son to a sleepover.

Italmanubri lightweight bars with a slight bend - perfect for me.

Thank you bicycle for teaching me patience. I needed quiet when four loud teenage boys descended upon our house. What better time to work on swapping the Ross's handlebars? In the garage! In two sessions, I wrangled the mustache bars from difficult single-piece stem and slid in the new, lighter bars taken from the Peugeot. I reused the Ross's original brakes, but with new cables. The transformation is nothing short of amazing. Handlebar height is spot on; brakes stop more efficiently, and addition of ergonomic grips was worth every penny I spent to acquire them at a local shop. The Ross now rides like a dream. She may not be the Terry Burlington or a Breezer, but with this recent rendition, she's become my new found friend.

Thank you bicycle.