Thursday, May 13, 2004

Stopped by Jack's Holiday Sales in Rahway to see if
he had any cheap bicycles. Had one, a Huffy, pretty
lightweight 15 speed, had new brake & gear lines that
should have been shortened by whoever installed them,
the brakes weren't tight. But I took it out for a spin
around the block. The bike didn't say "hello, I'm glad
you're riding me." The ram horn handle bars weren't right
for my kind of head's up street & sidewalk riding. Even so,
a bike can be friendly. I pulled an old Sears out of a curbside
trash pile at night, the tires were flat & the front fork was
bent, but the bike had a vibe that it wanted to be rescued, &
as I walked it home it had a reassuring click click. Sure enough,
the tires held air, the shift levers worked for awhile but when they gave out it was in a good gear. The bike was rusty & dirty,
I cleaned it up some &
rode it for over a
year until the worn out
front tire developed a tube bubble & went flat. It's still parked at Rahway Train Station. Anyway, the Huffy didn't feel good, still it was small & light, so I offered Jack $20, he said OK. But the bank balance on the ATM didn't make any sense - it should have been a few hundred more or less dollars - didn't know which recent check hadn't been cashed & I had to consider that I may have less available funds than expected. I took it as a sign not to get the Huffy.

I passed up a very cool 'round town bike few years ago at a garage sale, an old three speed Schwinn, maroon, front & rear fenders, obviously well-cared for, $25. But I was riding the heavy, likable one speed Eurotour I had at the time & I would've had to go to an ATM, then pedal home, leave bike & walk a mile back to garage sale late on a warm Sunday afternoon. THAT's the bike I see myself on.

A large red moped chained up with bikes at train station, registered
with plates. An ugly milk crake bolted to the back, ruined the stylish red look of the thing. It had a mo, I didn't see any ped. It was a really a small motorcycle, like the "little Honda" of the 1960s (I had one for a summer).
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