About 20 years ago Mrs RS, who had never had the pleasure of owning a bike as a child but could ride, decided that it would be a good thing to get a bike. She had seen how useful my trusty 15 year old Specialized Rockhopper was for getting around town and fitted with a child seat front and rear was useful for transporting the family too.
So we went out and bought her a brand new Gary Fisher hybrid that she rode for about a year, slowly going on longer and longer rides, until one day she said that she fancied doing a London to Paris ride. I told her she might need to upgrade from the heavy beast that was the Gary Fisher and she said she had already had a word with one of the staff at the gym who had just the thing since he was a very keen cyclist and was upgrading.
So for about £1000 she became the proud owner of a carbon fibre Trek with full top of the range Shimano Dura Ace kit, the same model that Lance Armstrong had ridden in the Tour de France. It was a beautiful bike and very well maintained and sorted, the brakes were razor sharp and the gears snicked into place like a rifle bolt, it was as light as a feather.
She loved that bike a did hundreds maybe thousands of miles training for the London/Paris ride that she completed the next year.
The following year she rode Paris to Geneva on it and during the whole time she had the bike it never needed any new parts, just servicing once a year.
Unfortunately though, due to the extreme riding position, it was starting to cause neck problems, so she had to stop riding it and changed to a Specialized Sirrus with straight bars and a less extreme riding position which was much more comfortable. We sold the Trek and bought the new bike with the £700 we raised.
Over the next few years the neck got better and road bikes started to get less extreme and more comfortable so a carbon fibre Cannondale Synapse was purchased and that has been providing great service for the last five years or more. However Mrs RS often looks back on the Trek with nostalgia and reminisces about the great rides she had on it.
So fast forward to today and the local car boot sale and walking through with my daughter, what should I spy but the exact same model and size carbon fibre Trek, even down to the same metallic blue paint work.
"How much for the Trek?" I asked.
"£200" came the reply.
SOLD.
I put it in the back of the car and Mrs RS happened to be coming out of the front door as I turned into the drive.
"Wait there" I said as I quickly pulled the bike out of the car.
It was only half out when she exclaimed "It's my bike!!!"
I think I am in the good books today!
So we went out and bought her a brand new Gary Fisher hybrid that she rode for about a year, slowly going on longer and longer rides, until one day she said that she fancied doing a London to Paris ride. I told her she might need to upgrade from the heavy beast that was the Gary Fisher and she said she had already had a word with one of the staff at the gym who had just the thing since he was a very keen cyclist and was upgrading.
So for about £1000 she became the proud owner of a carbon fibre Trek with full top of the range Shimano Dura Ace kit, the same model that Lance Armstrong had ridden in the Tour de France. It was a beautiful bike and very well maintained and sorted, the brakes were razor sharp and the gears snicked into place like a rifle bolt, it was as light as a feather.
She loved that bike a did hundreds maybe thousands of miles training for the London/Paris ride that she completed the next year.
The following year she rode Paris to Geneva on it and during the whole time she had the bike it never needed any new parts, just servicing once a year.
Unfortunately though, due to the extreme riding position, it was starting to cause neck problems, so she had to stop riding it and changed to a Specialized Sirrus with straight bars and a less extreme riding position which was much more comfortable. We sold the Trek and bought the new bike with the £700 we raised.
Over the next few years the neck got better and road bikes started to get less extreme and more comfortable so a carbon fibre Cannondale Synapse was purchased and that has been providing great service for the last five years or more. However Mrs RS often looks back on the Trek with nostalgia and reminisces about the great rides she had on it.
So fast forward to today and the local car boot sale and walking through with my daughter, what should I spy but the exact same model and size carbon fibre Trek, even down to the same metallic blue paint work.
"How much for the Trek?" I asked.
"£200" came the reply.
SOLD.
I put it in the back of the car and Mrs RS happened to be coming out of the front door as I turned into the drive.
"Wait there" I said as I quickly pulled the bike out of the car.
It was only half out when she exclaimed "It's my bike!!!"
I think I am in the good books today!
