Leah and Heather, The similarities in your "how I got to Rivendell" stories are fascinating to me. I think it's a testament to the Riv vibe in general that your paths ended there, and specifically on mixtes.
When the Glorius and Wilbury appeared in the mid-'00s, shortly followed by the lower-cost and easier to manufacture Betty Foy, I don't think any of us (or Riv) saw mixtes/step-throughs (droptube!) becoming a mainstream style in the market that everyone would ride. Now we have Cheviot and Platypus and Clem L and the Bike Snob guy rides a Platy. And there's my custom (I shout myself out here)! It's a whole new world! Heather your bikes are so rad! I dig the Albastache on your Platy, a bar I can't ride to save my life but they're SO cool. It's been great fun to read your story, welcome to the fray! Joe Bernard On Tuesday, January 4, 2022 at 11:41:36 AM UTC-8 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote: > Oh Heather, we really are sisters. I have SUCH a similar story - never > having a “nice” bike until I found Rivendell. Never fitting in with any > group or class of rider and having to find my own way. I still have anxiety > going into new bike shops thinking that they’ll laugh me out of the > building or label me in some way or not believe I’m a “real” rider. I so, > so empathize and thank you for telling us how you found your way. This is > why the RivSisterhood is so important to me; we have so much to share with > each other; it can be rough out there in the biking world, and it’s nice to > have a supportive, warm group of women in your corner. I am here cheering > for you from the woods of Michigan, loving your stories and adoring your > bikes! Same for the rest of my lovely sisters out there! (Guys, I love you, > too, but it’s just different with the Sisters.) > > Now, speaking of the sisterhood, do you know about Pam Murray? She’s the > famous Betty Foy rider (that bike predates your Cheviot and our Platypuses) > with 60k+ miles and counting. She teaches Cycle Savvy in Charlotte, which > is 130 miles from Asheville. I’d give my left rose-anodized brake lever to > meet her in person, and here you are in her backyard! You should meet. > Which makes me think: we need a Riv Sister Meet Up. I’d love to meet you > girl in real life and hug your necks and kiss your bikes. > > Thanks for taking the time to tell your story and share your bikes. I have > relished every bit of it. Keep posting! > Leah > > On Jan 4, 2022, at 1:29 PM, Heather Hayes <hhayes...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > *Long story short, here’s photos of my Cheviot!* > > > If you don't like lengthy, boring coming-of-age stories about bike riding, > you've been warned to turn back now or skip ahead to the pictures below. :) > But if you do, I'll share mine. The journey to discovering Rivendell and > this beautiful Cheviot was a *completely* unexpected one… > > > Riding my bike as a kid was one of my favorite pastimes, from the hot pink > Huffy with glittery tinsel streamers and a rose-patterned banana seat, to a > lemon yellow beach cruiser with a saddle the size of a movie theatre > recliner and playing cards clipped to the spokes with wooden clothespins. > In college I “upgraded” the cruiser to a super cheap, maliciously-magenta > Magna from Wal-mart. I biked to all my classes until someone cut the chain > on the front porch of my dodgy neighborhood and stole my sweet ride. Its > replacement was another Big Box cheapie, which got me where I needed to go > until moving from fairly-flat Raleigh to the mountains of Asheville, where > I couldn’t even make it up the first hill outside my front door on my > single speed sarcophagus of a bike. It was relegated to the basement and > started its sad new hobby of collecting dust. > > > Fast-forward 15 years. I hear about this magical place (beyond Middle > Earth) called Rivendell from cycling-enthusiast friends. But I couldn't be > a REAL cyclist, I'd be laughed off the road! Then I read JUST RIDE. Just > @&!%ing ride!!! What an amazing book, outlook, philosophy. Ride like you’re > a kid again. Have fun. Wear jeans. Be an UNracer. Who TF cares?! Beausage > for life. > > > My Chev is the first bike I’ve ever owned that cost over $75, and the > *priceless* result is rediscovering that I LOVE being on a bike again. > (Plus, I went to the School of Design, so I appreciate all those gorgeous > lugs as works of art!) Now, I can make it up those steep-ass hills, and I > even seek them out for fun. A good gravel grind in the woods became my > meditation. I was also thrilled to ride half a mile up to my neighborhood > market for fresh bread and cheese to put in my Nantucket wicker basket. > #NoRideIsTooShort > > > The Cheviot has already evolved many times as I discovered what I wanted > out of a bike. Cruising around only on beach vacations became more > adventures in the forest. Boscos were traded in for Chocos. Rene Herse > Switchback Hill smooth-treads were replaced with Juniper Ridge > mini-knobbies. My beloved basket became less practical for most rides and > made way for a front rack instead. I guess evolving, adapting, and dialing > in those components is all part of the fun, right!? > > > I knew next to nothing about bikes two years ago. But after COUNTLESS > hours spent perusing the Riv site, reading their catalog cover to cover, > pouring over the Blahg, and following this forum to *learn so much from > all of you*, a whole new world has opened up. Rivendell made bike riding > accessible again, and literally changed the way I was living my life. I > rediscovered that carefree kid on a bike, I'm beyond excited for all the > adventures still to come! > > [image: Cheviot2.jpg] > [image: Cheviot3.jpg][image: Cheviot5.jpg][image: Cheviot7.jpg] > > >>>>>>>>> -- > 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/w3NuvepUACY/unsubscribe > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. > > > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/0295f992-994f-435b-9940-c45acd46d1aan%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/0295f992-994f-435b-9940-c45acd46d1aan%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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