Long Hot Summer

It has been a long hot summer!  Not much BBQ and not many bike rides.  We did get my wife a new bike.

She has not been much of a bike rider over the years.  Her favorite bike for many years has been a late 50's early 60's single speed BF Goodrich, but even it has not been ridden in several years.  She expressed interest in riding on the KATY trail early in the summer so we rented a bike at Rocheport and took a nice ride.  We took a vacation to Colorado, and rented a bike in Glennwood Springs that was enjoyable. So when we got home I started to look for a reasonable bike that we could purchase.  We looked at the new bikes, but none really seemed to meet her needs.  Actually several would have been good bikes for her, but she expressed interest in such a wide range of bikes, I was not sure that if we picked one she would like it over time.  I decided to try the used market, and buy something that she could ride for a while and then she would be able to compare to new bikes that she tried. Ultimately I found a nice older comfort bike for a reasonable price.

She has ridden the bike almost daily, mainly around the house and up the road.  We have taken a couple of rides around Centralia, Columbia and Mexico.  We purchased a new bike seat, and changed the right shifter from a thumb shifter to a twist shifter.  She seems to like it a lot.  The previous owner had put on fairly wide tires, and they provide a very stable ride for her.

We took a couple of tours early in our relationship.  We rode a week long tour down HWY 19 through the springs and then west to Table Rock Lake.  Our honeymoon was a two week ride of the then relatively new rail-trail conversions in Wisconsin.  I am glad she is coming back to bicycling.