Yesterday, I got the email I’ve been waiting for since...well, forever. Or since 2018, which is the same thing. Tomorrow around 2 or 3 pm, that UPS truck will pull up, and the friendly guy in the brown uniform will be lugging a (hopefully intact) box from Rivendell. Inside will be the glittery raspberry mixte that I have been pining for for YEARS. The first Platypus, the only one of its kind, and I am dangerously close to imploding with happiness.
Years ago, maybe 2013, I saw a lipstick pink Rivendell custom mixte on Flickr. It belonged to a woman who loved it fiercely and still does, to this day (she has posted it on social media as recently as April 2020). I thought I would want her exact bike, if I could choose whatever bike and color I wanted. Some time later, I saw a red Glorius (Cyclofiend’s wife’s bike) and I liked that even better. I changed my mind and said if I ever got a chance to choose, I’d choose a metallic red Rivendell. Then I made the famous PurpleRiv’s acquaintance, and I saw her beautiful custom mixte with the sexy swoops in the back and I thought, “Actually, I’d like a bike like hers, but in metallic cranberry.” When rumors of the Anniversary Mixte swirled on the Blahg, I hoped for that bike to be the One Bike to Rule Them All. Maybe the AM could be the right mixte in the right color. But that bike was never made. But tomorrow something will arrive that has exceeded all my previous ideals. I will get a Rivendell mixte with the sexy swoops like PurpleRiv’s in a color that you’d imagine if you combined cranberry red and lipstick pink. A Raspberry Metallic Rivendell Mixte. I did not sleep last night and I doubt I will sleep tonight. This will make sense to no one (except maybe my #RivSisters) but I have spent the last couple of hours getting ready for my bike to arrive tomorrow. I cleaned my house. Washed my floors. I went up to my room and gave myself the spa treatment. Clarifying masks. Pumice stones. I gave myself a manicure and pedicure and all my nails are painted raspberry with a shiny, clear topcoat. I can’t explain why this had to be done but it feels like a natural part of the process to me. I chose my outfit and have planned my day. I love my RBW Blue Clementine, but I’m ready to park a Rivendell mixte next to it. I will try to get good photos tomorrow, but I might also just tip over. This is a bolus of joy in an otherwise difficult year. I have imagined this bike for so long and now it will finally be real. I can’t wait for tomorrow! Thanks for celebrating with me here. It is good to be among friends. Leah -- 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/ab9c3522-f778-4335-8cc6-6429596e803ao%40googlegroups.com.
