I 100%, wholeheartedly agree, DP. Truly. The thing about a bike becoming dear is that it gets that way because you have a long-term relationship with it. I rode the Betty from 2012-2020. And for all but the last 8 months of its existence, it was my ONLY bike. It was like an extension of me and we covered a lot of time and territory together. The Betty saw me through the kid-hauling years and the school-age years and our many cross-country road trips home. It carried my dog in the front basket until that very dog died July 2019. That Betty never imagined it would be upstaged by a comfortable Clem, but it was, and I find myself starting over.
I’ve got a LOT of miles on my Clementine now, but new parts means I’m still getting acquainted with it. We get along great, the two of us, and I don’t see myself changing anything else unless it’s to lighten some parts when the old ones wear out. I have come to find I really like “light” where I can get it on a steel frame, even though that is not a popular opinion here. But the goal is to feel about it as I did its predecessor, which is as if the bike was made for me. And I think I’m nearly there. Doug - I ride an average of 10 miles per day. That’s way, way up from my bike commuting days. I used to ride with the boys to school and back, so only 4 miles. But now I ride all the time, whenever I can. “Are you going out on your two-wheeler?” my husband will ask. “Heading out on the old dusty trail?” 🤣 He’s accepted this is just part of our life now. Sometimes he tags along on his ebike and embarasses me with his portable speaker and unfortunate choice of music. When you’re that comfortable on a bike, you can just keep going. One funny story...I’ve shared on this List that I’ve evolved from Bicycle Belle to Lone Wolf Leah. We were riding our bikes on a cool Saturday morning when we encountered a group of about 20 roadies pulled over and chatting. All their heads followed us as we went by. You’ve seen what I’ve got going on...Oakley robot glasses like theirs, steel frame nothing like theirs, goofy polka dot helmet, basket in front, colors sparking from the wheels... My husband (who anyone can look at and know EXACTLY where he fits in the velotaxonomy) looked at me and said, “I don’t think they know what to make of you.” Lone Wolf Leah Sent from my iPad > On Jun 9, 2020, at 2:14 PM, 'Deacon Patrick' via RBW Owners Bunch > <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> wrote: > > > Och! Leah, we have such very different definitions of "heat" and "reprieve > from the heat." Grin. It is a delightful feeling to sustain, and even deepen, > the joy of changes to a bike as the days and rides pass and you settle in > with it being the bike rather than the new bike. Grin. Keep on enjoying all > that cool weather, er, in the evenings with your light Clementine with a > light! > > With abandon, > Patrick > >> On Monday, June 8, 2020 at 9:29:43 PM UTC-6, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote: >> I continue to be in raptures over my “new” bike. Here is my NLC in the >> evening sun on our 13 miler tonight. It was only 79 and breezy today in Las >> Vegas. A reprieve from the heat is always welcome in my book. >> >> The sun caught the colors well. No filters. >> Lone Wolf Leah >> >> >> Sent from my iPad >> >>>> On Jun 7, 2020, at 1:49 PM, Brian Campbell <bdcamp...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>> >>> Awesome bike! Glad everything worked out and you are getting to enjoy you >>> Clem even more! >>> >>>> On Saturday, June 6, 2020 at 3:36:43 PM UTC-4, Joe Bernard wrote: >>>> Strange Magic >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the >>> Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/N5w--nIDb0E/unsubscribe. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to >>> rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/8302d810-93f2-47b9-8b28-5b87b6917776o%40googlegroups.com. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google > Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/N5w--nIDb0E/unsubscribe. > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/f1d083fa-347e-42dd-ada3-257d8be3ba7ao%40googlegroups.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/5459B0FB-AECD-4EAE-A630-1C9EB6C393EE%40gmail.com.
