the orange Saluki is fastest.
On Dec 14, 8:56 pm, MobileBill <bud...@mindspring.com> wrote: > So the local magazine is looking for a pretty bike to photograph in > transit, for a story on the growing popularity of bike commuting (yes, > even in ol’ Mobile, Alabama). Someone at the local bike shop, > interestingly enough, points them to the Saluki. So we head out on our > first 9-mile leg to the office, with a photographer in tow, catching > the burnt orange gleam of the Saluki from every angle. Get to work, > and someone says, boy I’d like to get a bike like that … > Shortly before noon, I realize that I’ve been distracted by > the celebrity, and left some important papers at home. I have a little > over an hour to get there and back, 18 miles and then some in lunch > time traffic. I throw off the panniers, and the Saluki does what a > Saluki does -- bounding at 19 or 20 miles an hour down potholed city > streets on those fat 650s, flying at 33 miles per hour down the last > long hill back to work. > Six o’clock, I’m ready to head home, and a co-worker calls and > says she’s left some important mailings at the office. But then she > remembers I’m on the bike, and says, Nevermind, we’ll do it tomorrow. > They’ve got to go out tonight, and it's the other side of town to > get there. The panniers go back on the Saluki, and I wedge in > something close to 15 pounds of mailings, plus a change of clothes and > the usual trunk full of stuff. I expect some wobble from the front > end, but I just lean into it, and she runs like she’s got a keel under > her, about as fast as I care to peddle on the fourth commuting leg of > the day. > On the way home in the dark, I roll over the neck of a beer > bottle and hear the Schwalbe Marathon 37s crush it into tiny pieces. I > think I hear air escaping, and realize it’s a sprinkler in one of the > yards. > After what's pretty close to a 40-mile day, the odometer tells > me I have nearly 9,000 miles on the bike and the tires. The Marathons > haven't had a flat in 8,500 miles, but one of these days, I’m going to > have to replace that rear one. This Saluki, though … I hope I’m riding > it for a long, long time. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
