gone, gone, gone

Today was an emotional day for me.  I said good bye to 6 old friends, once cherished and dear to me but now of little use.  The 6 were our bikes, no longer hanging from our garage ceiling but now in the back of a U-haul pickup truck, headed for the Student Bike Shop, where Bill will find them new homes.

There they sit for one last ride.

I was encouraged as I handed them over and took his check, hearing him wonder about  a very tall customer who might find my monster Miyata very suitable.  The breakup was totally due to my accident in Chile 2 days before Christmas 2014.  You can read about that in “Bye bye bikes”, which I posted March 15

https://theviewfromharbal.com/2020/03/16/bye-bye-bikes/. The counselling sessions mentioned there never materialized, and I realized I’d just lost that loving feeling for bicycles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOnYY9Mw2Fg

The bikes were all quality machines, acquired honestly, and well maintained.  Whoever buys them is getting a bargain, especially the Trek, which is a sleek, light carbon fiber speedster much beloved by my wife, who bought it with her first big NASA paycheck.  The matte blue Mongoose was especially pretty.  I was always jealous I had to put up with a black model.  The Crossroads were fun to ride all over D.C.

Bob Ike’s bikes June 8, 2020

model	frame size/type	color	Where purchased		date purchased	purchase price
			shop	city
Miyata 110	27”/M	blue	Great Lakes Cycling Center	Ann Arbor MI	8/11/84	292.40
Mongoose Maneuver	24”	glass black	Student Bike Shop	Ann Arbor MI	2/15/97	281.68
Mongoose Maneuver	22”	matte blue	Student Bike Shop	Ann Arbor MI	2/15/97	281.68
Trek 5220 OCLV Carbon Series	24”	blue	Great Lakes Cycling Center	Ann Arbor MI	Summer ‘98	*
Specialized Crossroads Elite	24”	silver	Blazing Saddles	Washington DC	10/6/00	266.60
Specialized Crossroads Elite	22”	silver	Blazing Saddles	Washington DC	10/6/00	266.60

* Kathy did not save paperwork

Bill gave me $600 for the lot.

So now they’re gone, gone, gone, wo-ah wo-oh.