I've made plans to go biking this weekend, and now I want a new bike.
Before I learned to drive at 22, I got around town on my red & white Univega 10-speed. I loved that bike. I could carry it over my shoulder, it was so light. I rode it to school, to work, my flute lesson, in the rain... I got so confident on it I was making left turns in the left-hand turn lane! Then I finally learned to drive, got a car, and my poor bike was abandoned.
It was left out on a balcony for some time, where it acquired quite a bit of rust, and then my dad - ! - got rid of it. Since then I've been riding my brother's butt-ugly turquoise Nishiki mountain bike. It's a little too big for me, and is this amazingly hideous turquoise color (with hot pink accents! It's Don Johnson's Miami Vice bike!). I don't ride very often, though, so I didn't see any reason to purchase a better bike of my own, one specifically for me.
Yesterday I made a date with my friend to go biking on Sunday, though, and she has a glorious new black & white bike (she looks like a cop on it! I love it)... and I got jealous. I'm not moving on getting a new bike just yet, but I was curious to see what was out there, so today I stopped by the bike shop and checked them out.
I was helped by this guy named Diego, who asked me a bunch of questions, and took me over to the "fitness" bike section. I had told him that it was really important to me that the bike not be too heavy. The first bike he showed me was the Trek 7.2, woman's version of the bike one level below the one I'm showing at the beginning of my blog. That bike was black with pink lettering, and honestly? I'm not feeling the pink. Also, I've always, since my first blue & white banana seat bike when I was 8, had boys' bikes. I'm comfortable on a boys bike (wait a minute...!), and they seem sturdier (even if that's a my own misconception, who can argue with feeling steadier?). So I dismissed that one with a wave of my hand, and he showed me the one pictured here. They didn't have a small enough one for me on hand, so I only looked at it. It's pretty. Shiny. Lots of gears (I think Diego said 24, but how is that possible? My old 10-speed would feel very outclassed). Fancy 21st century materials. And only $529.
So I'm going to wait and see how Sunday goes (I hope it doesn't rain), and start saving my money. Actually I already have enough in my savings account right now but again, I don't want to be hasty.
