My mom told me that when I was 2 we were stationed at Strategic Air Command HQ's. She thought I was outside playing with the neighbor kids and then went to check on me and I was riding my tricycle along side an Air Police. He said I had rode my trike 2 miles to the gate and I didn't know my address but knew how to get home. That was the start of my love affair with bikes.
I don't remember my bikes when we were station in Japan, Guam and the Philipines because we moved every 2 to 4 years. But when we were stationed at Vandenberg AFB, my dad bought me a Schwinn Junior Miss. It was in my favorite color--pink and had a white plastic basket with pink and white plastic flowers on the front. I loved riding around the base with my friends for hours. I rode it to school everyday. I felt so independent. I even brought home our first puppy in that basket. Then my dad retired to Santa Ynez Valley and I still rode my Schwinn to elementary school everyday. Since I outgrew my Junior Miss by the 6th grade, my dad bought me a purple 10 speed and I hated it. I was confused by the brakes and the shifters plus it was a boys bike (straight top tube) and I didn't like that I could barely put my feet on the ground. I hated the uncomfortable drop handlebars. I tried riding it one time in front of my dad and put it away. Then junior high and high school came and went and I didn't a bike because my dad bought my sister and I a small car to share. In college I had this crappy Fiat X19 and it broke down every other week. The last time it stopped working I used my part time job money to buy a trek 720 purple hybrid. They only had a guys version so I used that to ride around to 3 summer lifeguarding jobs. I was in the best shape ever. Then I graduated and one of my work study supervisors gave me her old car, so I started driving again. In 2006, I notice I had gained 30 lbs. I remembered what great shape I was in riding my bike in college, so I bought a trek 2200 woman specific bike, in pink, of course. The go fast bike was great climbing, but I couldn't ride it when the pavement disappeared, which happens a lot on mountain roads in LA. One day I wanted to go to Traders and pick up a few items, but it took 30 mins for me to get al kitted up and thats when I decided I needed a new bike. I was online and started reading about Betty Foy and in 2009 I discovered this list. 3 years later, I found an old bridgestone mixte in the back of a car repair shop and built it into my grocery getter with bags and basket from Rivbike. I also had a dyno wheel built. Then I became head pastry chef and treated myself to a Riv custom mixte. I received it last June. If it wasn't for discovering Rivendell, I would still be using a messenger bag and getting kitted up just to pick up a few groceries. -- 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 post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
