Part 16

My summer 2021 bikes

Mid September and I am back in Prescott.     I have now bought two Walmart bikes this summer, the equivalent of cheap tools that you expect to use only minimally.    

Bike number 1 was from a Walmart in Anchorage Alaska that I knew I would only be there for a week or so.   Not worth spending the money for a good bike, so I bought a simple beach cruiser for about 100 dollars.   The anchorage area is mostly flat, so I knew I didn't need gears.       I spray painted it yellow to give it a Chip look, and it worked well for me while I was there, and the day I flew back to San Francisco I found a women's shelter a couple of miles from the airport in Anchorage and dropped it off there, with the helmet and the lock.

Bike number 2 was my bike in Denver for a month, and was a great Trek bike that Scott had in his garage,  a leftover from his first marriage and that was initially known as "Donna's bike", named after his first wife.   Great Bike.     Great Granny gears.    Denver is in a valley, but more hilly than Anchorage, so the Granny gears made getting up the hills relaxing and comfortable.    It was slightly too small for me, so I pushed the seat back, turned the handlebars upside down to push them forward, and also put a milk crate in the back so that I could just throw things into it.   I also bought a good combination cable lock for it because I find having a lock with a key unreliable for me as I am always nervous about losing the key.    I really liked that bike.

Bike number 3 is my bike for Prescott, and another Walmart bike because I am only here for a little more than a month.   It cost 125 dollars, plus 15 for the combination lock and another 25 for a helmet.    There is a two mile uphill climb from Jill's house to town so I knew I would need a bike with gears.

The best I can say about this bike is that it is a work in progress.  Slightly too small for me but the handle bars don't quite flip over as they are bent the wrong way.  The seat is barely constructed.  The brakes are side pulls and a bit wanky.    No granny gears, so climbing that long hill into town in the morning is more of a physical challenge than I really want.    All this adds up in the negative column, but on the positive side it is the bike I bought and one that I now have, so I will work with it and see what I can do to make it more livable and mine.   Every bike has a soul, and I will do what I can for it while I am here.  I plan on leaving it with Jill when Tamale and I go back to Bandon at the end of October.  

I rode Bike #3 it into town the day before yesterday, and now this morning.  Riding every other day might be a viable answer to that strenuous morning climb.   Just enough to keep my breathing and my legs strong.

Like I said a work in progress.  Bike number 3, me.    I am optimistic.