They say that if you want to get more movement into your day to start with something you enjoyed doing as a kid. Well, for me, this is riding my bike. So I started biking to work last week. It takes approximately nine minutes and I’m pretty winded by the end. NINE MINUTES. My plan is to to do this three times a week for the rest of the season so hopefully it will get a little bit easier with time.
Nine minutes is a short time, but it’s a good time. The whistling wind, the crunch of gravel under my tires, coasting down hills big and small… it feels great and I love it.
We have a secure area to lock bikes at work, which is a bonus. I have to laugh at myself though… I am not very graceful and am forever always closing the gate on myself, running over a foot (mine, thankfully), or dropping stuff. The area is overlooked by a bank of windows and it occurs to me that I am providing a comedy routine for an unsuspecting audience every time I’m in there. :D
My bike is a heavy “mountain bike” style with thicker tires. It’s 20+ years old but I love it. It is SOLID. I feel safe on that thing, it’s like I’m riding a tank. YES, it weighs a lot, but I can run over pretty much anything and not be afraid of wiping out. I think that’s a pretty good trade off. That being said, I am very tempted by vintage-y step-through Townie-style bikes but I am hesitating. My bike still gets me from point A to point B, so do I really need a new one?
Each kid received a new bike for their birthday this year.
The youngest was in town back in April and she picked out a sleek and gorgeous Trek model at Bushtukah here in Westboro. Believe it or not, we bought and paid for it during a weekend and when Mark went to pick it up the next Thursday he was informed the bike we had purchased had been sold to someone else. Err. That was a surprise. I am still not sure how this happened but we were so disappointed that we got the refund and bought the same bike online at a delightful little bike shop in Kingston called Trek Bicycle Kingston. The youngest picked her bike up there when she was back in Kingston. She was happy with the service and absolutely loves her bike.
It was the eldest’s birthday this month. (24!!) We skipped Bushtukah, obviously, and checked out the Hintonburg location of Full Cycle and bought a bike there instead. We were so pleased with their friendly, knowledgeable service and low-pressure attitude. It was a great experience overall. In fact, it was so good I might even be convinced to get a new bike for myself at some point… ;)
So, Bushtukah lost a couple bike sales, and also, future bikes sales from our family. But when all is said and done they did us a big favour because thanks to their poor service we discovered two new amazing bike shops I’m happy to support and recommend to others.
