I feel as if inspiration can come from many places, or sometimes you just find it necessary to satisfy that itch that is the “what if” in your life. I have recently found my latest “what if” and decided that I had the means to make it work.
What I wanted was a road bike. Yeah, like those used in the Tour de France, or those ridden by European people in spandex who constantly seem to think they’re cars out on the road. No 16 year old boy would ever want a bike like that when they could have a top of the line mountain bike used to conquer all obstacles in the general area around it. Skinny tires, lightweight chrome-molly frame, curved handlebars and suicide shifters all come with the package that is a road bike.
My father, being the high style man that he is, purchased a brand new Schwinn World Sport Road Bicycle in 1986 for the then pricey sum of $400.00. He got many good years of use out of it, and then parked it in the garage for nearly a decade. Cobwebs and dust built up, tires rotted and dirt accumulated on the once glorious bike, and I decided that I needed to revamp the bike at all costs. I brought it to D & D Bike Shop in Northville, where I asked them to do all they could to fix it. After returning several times throughout the course of the week, I returned to the shop to pick up my bike. It glistened in the sun, the gunmetal grey frame casting shimmers of light off into the distance. The red grip tape matched the Schwinn logo perfectly, and all the running gear was tuned to perfection. There was one thing left to do.
Swinging my leg over the frame, I began to pedal. My legs moved faster and faster as the buildings around me began to turn into a blur. Trees, cars and everything around me lost importance, and it was just me and the bike. Moving forward, and not looking back.
I thought to myself, I don’t have a dollar in my wallet, but I couldn’t be any happier.
What I wanted was a road bike. Yeah, like those used in the Tour de France, or those ridden by European people in spandex who constantly seem to think they’re cars out on the road. No 16 year old boy would ever want a bike like that when they could have a top of the line mountain bike used to conquer all obstacles in the general area around it. Skinny tires, lightweight chrome-molly frame, curved handlebars and suicide shifters all come with the package that is a road bike.
My father, being the high style man that he is, purchased a brand new Schwinn World Sport Road Bicycle in 1986 for the then pricey sum of $400.00. He got many good years of use out of it, and then parked it in the garage for nearly a decade. Cobwebs and dust built up, tires rotted and dirt accumulated on the once glorious bike, and I decided that I needed to revamp the bike at all costs. I brought it to D & D Bike Shop in Northville, where I asked them to do all they could to fix it. After returning several times throughout the course of the week, I returned to the shop to pick up my bike. It glistened in the sun, the gunmetal grey frame casting shimmers of light off into the distance. The red grip tape matched the Schwinn logo perfectly, and all the running gear was tuned to perfection. There was one thing left to do.
Swinging my leg over the frame, I began to pedal. My legs moved faster and faster as the buildings around me began to turn into a blur. Trees, cars and everything around me lost importance, and it was just me and the bike. Moving forward, and not looking back.
I thought to myself, I don’t have a dollar in my wallet, but I couldn’t be any happier.
Joey you have a way with words. It is nice that you breathed life into an old friend. I like the picture of the new, improved version of the bide. Keep riding!
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