"Once I had a little car.
It never travelled very far.
On every trip I'd end up towed.
I rode my bike, unless it snowed.
My car broke down again today.
There's only one thing left to say.
My bike has never made me sad.
Two wheels good... Four wheels bad."
My wife got me this coffee mug a few years ago. When we were first married, we had 2 cars. Then I started travelling for work about 2 weeks a month, and my 2002 Oldsmobile Alero was struggling - blown head gaskets, wheels falling off, etc. (the wheels didn't actually fall off, but the head gasket part is true). So we ended up selling the car and buying some Trek hybrid bikes. And that is how this story begins.
Since we were sharing a car, when I wasn't travelling I began riding my bike to work. I road a couple hundred miles the first year, then about 500 miles the next year, then 1,000, then 2,000, and about 4,500 last year, eventually adding a road bike to my fleet somewhere in there. During the same period, we added 2 kids to the family, but I have still stubbornly resisted buying a second car and commuting to work by bike as much as possible.
However, as everyone in Kalamazoo knows, we have been getting snow dumped on us from above lately. And thankfully, despite my best efforts to maintain our one car, it has been living at the repair shop for the last week and a half. The good news is we are supposed to get it back today, at the cost of our entire tax return (more blown head gaskets).
So, as I was drinking my coffee out of this mug last weekend (which my one year old subsequently decided to pour out on himself, the refrigerator, and the kitchen floor), I was reflecting on this little poem, reminded of the fact that my bike(s) have never made me sad. All I've had to do is add some chain lube, wash them every year or so, change a few [hundred] flats, and they keep going. All of which has probably cost me less in total than this one stupid repair.
But very soon, it will be time ditch the four wheelers in favor of the two wheelers. I can't wait. We're also going to Florida in a couple days, so I really won't have to wait either.
In the meantime, I will share with you the car that we are driving while ours has been in the shop, which my brother-in-law was so generous to loan us free of charge:
That's all for now, I'll be back to talk about more cycling related stuff. But since this is my first post, and I have officially zero readers, I don't think it matters.
Clay
