My Bike

Do you ride a Bike?  I do so only occasionally. 

I always get whistles from the guys, or the horn blown at me — but not from Mr. Testosterone. The attention is most certainly not for my looks, my choice of clothes, nor for new new bike riding gear (I’m too cheap for that), not for the moves I make on the bike either. 

It is because it is a Hawthorne, Montgomery Wards bike from Chicago, dating from the late ‘50s [the bike was no longer produced after the 1960 catalogue came out].

Think it’s nothin’?  Think it ain’t somethin’?   It is classic and it is vintage.  I imagine the folks behind that horn are saying “would you look at that fool of a girl — isn’t that a little outdated or is the circus in town?”

Beauty isn’t just skin deep!  The bike is packed with hardware, it has a combination of lightness and strength — and a multitude of gears to choose from [L,M and H].  I don’t care about the look and beeps, I get.  It’s one thing I inherited from my mother in law and I really appreciate my bike.  It’s big, solid and feels safe, plus it gets me around quicker than striding on my two feet — and I don’t care to speed around Woodbury town, as the police hide out in my driveway, nabbing speeders each morning.

Last year we lost my husband’s bike.  It’s a real mystery. We’re so astute we cannot recall what happened — we may have left it at a garage on Lake Street, Mpls. where we used to have our truck repaired.  My husband would cycle in to pick up the repaired vehicle, usually throw the bike in the back of the truck. But one time last summer it just disappeared.  If you left it on Lake Street, Mpls, ‘tis a gonner for sure. Or, it may have been stolen right here in Woodbury… we just can’t recall. Yet right when he went to hop on the ol’ jalopy, ‘twas nar a sign of it.

So, sometime last summer we reckoned we would purchase a used bike from Penn Cycle on Lake Road Terrace, in Woodbury.  Just to mention again the high levels of enlightened, cognitive agility found within this house… while living in Puerto Rico this past year we had sorta forgotten if we had actually purchased a bike last summer to replace the lost bike.  And one of the joys of returning, after being away, is discovering just how much [perhaps too much] you actually have. We returned this June and saw the bike in the garage.  

I thought perhaps we never mislaid the missing bike in the first place — but then I just found the receipt of the sale of the bike yesterday [and I suppose my husband would know his own bike]. Looking at the receipt, Rick recalled that the manager, last fall;  gave an active duty military discount, replaced the front wheel that was bad, put on a better seat, and a tune up on the used bike before we took it home. But, we went to Puerto Rico and he never had a chance to take ‘er for a spin!

Currently, Rick is preparing for a bike trip.  He shall try cycling to Grand Marais from Woodbury, around Lake Superior, thru Sault Saint Marie, and then down to Green Bay, Wisconsin.  He decided to update his Penn Bike a bit. 

The guys at Penn in Woodbury took care of all of his details.  We had no receipt two weeks ago from last August’s sale, but the guys at Penn did not make this a priority; they just wanted to look after us — just concerned about getting the job done.  Rick noticed that there was a clicking in the pedal crank case. Penn cycle fixed it for free!

We purchased some accessories from them for the big trip such as a rear rack, odometer, better hand grips etc. -- then with a few adaptations from Fleet Farm [$9 marine battery box vs. $100 Pannier bag and $9 Russian Bread bag vs. $40 handlebar bag] and we’re off.

But prior to leaving, Rick went back with our daughter and her bike a couple of days ago. The chain guard on her bike had come off and her pants kept getting caught in the gears or she would get grease on her leg etc. Once in the store, the manager bent over backwards to help out and, at no charge, found an old part that we could attach. He also found a spare seat for the bike [as her current seat was hard as Valley Creek Road in January] and he did this without any prompting from us – just wanted the best… for us?!?!  Well!!!  After all of this, we just HAD to purchase something at retail. So, my daughter did notice that her handgrips were pretty beat up and thus we purchased a white set that matched her freshly updated ride.

And to truly put the shop to the test, we had the ol’ Montgomery Wards Hawthorne brought in for new tires last year [as the last replacement was in the late 60s]… and there was not ONE snicker, guffaw or eyes rolling at the sight of my little black behemoth.

 After being at some bike shops that treat you as an unwashed rube if you don’t, at the very least, inquire about the $13,000 Bianchi Oltre Dura Ace Compact; it is so very nice to have a local shop that reminds us of the “Ma and Pop” paradigm of old and gives top notch service to even the unassuming biking neophyte that stumbles in thinking bikes should still be $45 new!

Thank you!