In 1994 or 1995, my wife and I were living in South Minneapolis. Somebody broke into our basement storage area and stole a bunch of stuff, most notably our GT mountain bikes. The insurance man bought us new bikes just before he canceled our policy. Apparently, insurance companies like the "take your money forever" part of their gig but not the "give some back in case you lose some shit" part. To this day, and forever, I will feel like Allstate is run by a bunch of number-crunching monkeys who care more about their bottom line than providing actually useful service. Revolutionary, no?
I digress.
The bikes that our insurance man bought us were Treks. For me a copper colored 950 and for my wife a teal blue 930. We still have the bikes but have not ridden them in fly mountain bike style for some many years. So I converted them to upright-but-not-uptight city-style bikes last autumn. I get much use of mine and enjoy it greatly.
A few weeks ago, the good people at Hiawatha Cyclery installed an xtracycle conversion on that bike and now it's my favorite ride. The very first day I owned it I went to Target and bought the biggest package of paper towels they sell. Just 'cause I could. It was sweet swerving down the road with a cubic yard of Quicker Picker Upper hanging off the side. A dude in a pickup honked and waved and, get this you biker folk, smiled.
Plus which, earlier in the day, on my way home from Le Grand Hiawatha, a chick on a Cross Check actually laid down a "nice rig" on me. First ever, if you don't count my wife or 5 year-old son. Pretty sweet, yo.
I like the bike not only because it hauls much in the way of goods, but also seems to transport other folks a place where they are able to lighten up and share their joy. Whodah thunkit?
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