THE jin moom

I gave my first bike away

In the summer of 2005, I walked into the Sibley Bike Depot and asked the bearded mechanic for a bicycle.  Asked what I was looking for in a bicycle, I replied that I needed something to ride to work with “a few gears.”  The man squinted and laughed and eventually found me a Schwinn World Sport about as old as I was.  He said $75 but I told him all I had was $50.  Deal.

It was rusty and heavy and things had a way of breaking.  I treated it poorly.  When parts broke or needed maintenance, I opted for the cheapest fix.  By the end of my stewardship, the bike hadn’t been cleaned in months; black electrical tape covered parts of the frame and was peeling off of other parts of the frame; and I hadn’t ridden the thing in about a year and a half.

It was my first bike as an adult.  I got around town on it.  I learned to fix and tweak the bike a little, although, being me, I was clumsy and inept.  I pedaled to Duluth on it, although, being me, I did it without even carrying a spare tube or any tools.  I rode the Minnesota Ironman on it, grinning through the disapproval of ridemates whose bikes’ prices were in the four digits, not two.

About a year and half ago, I purchased a 1997 Lemond Zurich, an amazing upgrade from the Schwinn.  It was light and fast and had index shifting and brakes that worked.  I garaged my Schwinn and thought maybe I would fix it up and ride it - later.

One day, I decided to take the Schwinn out for a spin.  As it turns out, it was too big for me - I had ridden the damned thing for years and hadn’t realized that it was too big.

Still, I kept the Schwinn, out of some combination of laziness and greed and sentiment.  So it sat in the garage some more, the chain grease thickening and turning gritty with dust.

A few weeks ago, I realized that I hadn’t really ridden the Schwinn since I purchased the Lemond - I had even upgraded from that bike by this time and I was in the process of selling the Lemond.  I put the bike rack on my car and put the Schwinn on the rack.  Kimberly and I drove to a local bike shop that repairs bikes and then gives them away to low-income children, college students, new immigrants, neighbors, residents of half-way houses, and homeless people.

I walked the creaking bicycle into the shop.  The shop owners, an elderly couple, were delighted when I told them that I was donating the Schwinn.  They needed more tall bikes like mine, they said.  I had also come to pick up a part for another bike - they were more than happy to give it to me for free.

I walked out with heavy sighs and few words.  Kimberly consoled me in the car, assuring me that the bike would probably go to a low income person who otherwise would not have transportation.

Yesterday, I spoke to my friend Justin who rode with me to Duluth, he on his Kona cyclocross bike, me on my Schwinn.  I told him I had given the Schwinn away.  He said he still had some photographs of the Schwinn.  I sighed heavily and said few words.

Politicians and Their Aides

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09150/973907-455.stm : “Orie aide accused of soliciting teen for ‘furry’ sex”

http://washingtonindependent.com/45075/tom-tancredo-and-the-n-word : “Tom Tancredo Staffer Pleads Guilty to Karate-Chopping Black Woman [After Calling Her the ‘N’ word]”

God bless America.