The Prodigal Bike: A Celebration

My son has returned.

Take the cycle-computer with the cadence monitor and put it on his handlebars.  Bring the best spandex and put it on him.  Install the clip-in pedals where you put your feet.  Kill the leftover clif shots and gu packets… let’s go for a ride and celebrate!  My bike was dead and is alive again.

But is it my bike?  Yes it is.  Or is it?

(same components: wheels, tires, crank, derailleurs, pedals, handlebars, brakes, bottom bracket, stem, headset… almost everything)  Just a new frame and fork.  But that makes quite a difference.  Let me introduce you to…

Vincent Black Lightning 1952 (potential alternate names include, but are not limited to: Vince, Vinsanity, 52, Black Lightning, Venom Greenzo, Green Goblin)

I really like the matte black… oh, and owning a bike again.  Also, kudos to you if you know the song reference.  If you don’t, google if your friend.

Welcome home to where you belong, son.  No one will hurt you here… oh, except for that one fat guy who is going to pedal you over some of the worst roads in America for the next six months.  Other than that almost constant punishment, should be smooth sailing… nothing like being sawed in half by Cannondale Corp and then heartlessly thrown into a loveless scrap heap.

Anyway, I did take “my Vincent machine” for an inaugural ride on Sunday… to REI of all places.  It seemed only fitting.  Plus I needed new cleats for my cycling shoes.  But seriously, it’s a good distance (about 20 miles), and it felt right to pay homage to the source of my cycling joy.

Speaking of cycling joy… I really (really) love riding my bike.  Even the parts I don’t like, I like.  There is still just enough left over nostalgia and gratitude that it really is myopically positive and inordinately gratifying. If I were a talented writer who was in any way eloquent, I might attempt to try to “paint a picture with words” to describe what it feels like to be riding again… all the little things: click of gears, spinning up hills, fast starts, grinding into the wind, the glorious feeling of a strong tailwind, racing cars, the sights and smells of spring, the world rushing by yet all the while everything seems so much more noticeable and in-your-face… all the little things that add up to make cycling so great.  But I can’t… I can list random things I like… but it doesn’t resonate.  I can’t make you understand.  The best I can do is implore you to go out and enjoy what little spring we get here in Chicagoland and ride your bike… see the world in a different way.  It’s glorious.

What a celebration.

=======

This post is written as if it’s Sunday as part of my “timetravel: I was busy for a week and am now catching up with what day it is” series…

I had a “longer” run in downtown Chicago on Saturday.  Actually had to stop because of knee pain.  Not good times.  But then after a while it was fine and didn’t hurt at all running or even later.  Weird.  Distance: 4.3 miles (on Satuday), 5k run and 20.5 mile bike (on Sunday)… good workout weekend… trying to make up for some of the food…

We had a YL retreat this weekend, and I ate a lot of really good food that didn’t necessarily equate to being good for me.  Oops.  Food: C+ (this helped me discover a revelation about myself, and uncover another culprit… but that’s a subject for another post)

Haven’t weight myself because we were gone all weekend.  Worried about the rise.