Farewell to Holly

With all of the Bike to Work and Commuter Challenge events going on this month, it was absolutely horrible timing for my beloved bike of 7 years, Holly Go- Lightly, to meet her (rather dramatic) demise.

I say dramatic because there is no other way to describe a handlebar stem breaking mid-ride.

All I can say is thank Geebus for my “strong-core, light-on-the-handlebars, weight-in-the-pedals” Spinning technique; without it I would’ve gone down. Fortunately, I was able to stay in control and stop safely.

(This is where the story turns into one of those “choose your own adventures”. If you think that Holly can be saved, keep reading. If you think that she lived a good life, but it’s time for me to move on, come back tomorrow.)

So, after limping my poor bike to work, I did a little research and found out that she could *maybe-possibly* be fixed. I waited until lunchtime and then limped her over to Natural Cycle in the Exchange. After a quick consultation, we decided to give it a try and I left the old girl there with the promise that I would be back in ten days.

Thank goodness for my mountain bike, because it was a LONG ten days.

Now, for those of you who are keeping track of my history with vehicles, you may have noticed a strange trend. Every time I have any sort of incident with my car, I get it fixed…but then end up getting a new car. Apparently, the same holds true for bikes. (Spoiler alert!)

At the end of my loooong ten day wait, I excitedly hurried down to the bike shop after work, picked up my bike… and fell tragically out of love with it. It just wasn’t *right*. The new stem was shorter, the new handlebars were narrower, the grips didn’t fit properly and, worst of all, NO BASKET.

I rode her home, all the while trying to figure out what to do. By the time I made it home, I had a plan. Stay tuned for part II.