letting go

for about a year and a half i've been thinking about a different bike.

strange that isn't it.

the bikes i have - the commuter and the road bike - are both good bikes. they have been well-used and cared for, but there's an itch that i can't scratch. so i've been scouring the net, bookmarking this manufacturer and that manufacturer in the hope that somewhere, i'll see a thumbnail picture and a glowing description that describes the next bike for me.

after much deliberation, soul-searching, head-scratching and several beers over the year and a half, i had settled on buying one of two bikes. the cervelo s1 and the argon 18 krypton.

my first rule of thumb is that bikes - like clothes, furniture, wall-paint and book covers - must look good and both of these do. having become a little more knowledgeable through experience and research i also knew that within my budget i could afford a shimano ultegra drivetrain and peripherals.

not a cyclist? then reading all that stuff likely put you off.

so i'll continue for the benefit of the two of you still reading.

i shop for my bike bits and even whole bikes at wildrock in downtown peterborough. it's an excellent shop with cool, knowledgeable and real people working there, some of whom are chums and even riding friends from africycle in the summer.

so i had more-or-less decided to try and buy one of the two aformentioned bikes through wildrock when an e-mail arrived informing me that my fave bike shop was having a "ridiculous sale" of all 2010 models. i saw two bikes listed that caught my eye and their prices - neither were the two i was looking at and for, but what the heck.

so off i went.

well - there it was.

the glance across the room that sealed my fate.

a trek madone 4.7.

it wasn't the bike i wanted, dreamed of, saved for.

nope. i recognized it as "the next bike" as soon as i saw it.

i don't try on clothes.

i don't take bikes out for a test spin.

either i know or i don't know that i need to have whatever it is i see because it's right for me.

strange isn't it.

that someone so thoughtful, someone who's always thinking things through......

and then bam!!!

i'm handing over scads of cash and saying "i'll be by to pick it up tomorrow!"

and then leaving, now owning three bikes.

so, long story short - the glacier "team ice" has been sold at wildrock's annual bike sale day.

so i'm a little wistful.

the glacier carried me for five thousand kilometres, eleven hundred of which were around lake ontario.

i have great memories of it, some of which have been shared here, but now i'm moving on.

a new relationship with a different bike.

to this point i've put three hundred and fifty km on it so it still looks and feels like new.

stick around and there'll be more about what my new bike and i achieve.