What do you ride to the drugstore?

[missliz]

Maybe it's just dewey eyed nostalgia, maybe it's the price of gas, but I've been thinking about all the years when I didn't even own a car and rode a thirty pound cheap steel bike everywhere. I was thinner, happier, yes younger too. I have a stable of bikes now that I would be terrified to leave locked up outside the grocery store- too easy to steal pricey parts off of. My go to Mardi Gras bar crawl bike is too crummy to ride every day, TOO cheapo.
Any body have a 'comfort bike'? At $350 I'd still only leave it in select places but I could get in a lot of fitness work running errands on it and riding it to the gym would spare me the boredom of the Lifecycle. I saw a Diamondback (Wildwood?) with a swoopy retro frame and a cushy ride, pretty paint colors, price I could get over losing. What do you all think? I'm thinking wicker basket on the front.

missliz

[TwoTiredGal]

I have an 11 year old Cannondale M500 that is perfect for errands and even commuting. I would hate to lose it mostly for sentimental reasons and am pretty careful where I park it. I lived in a ghetto area of downtown for awhile and parked it outside stores and the gym and no one seemed to tamper with it. I would check on it periodically through the window of the gym. An hour is a long time for her to be outside alone in a strange place! Now I'm in the suburbs (ugh!) and feel pretty comfortable leaving it out wherever I go... locked up, of course.

I did use a 70's model Schwinn cruiser for awhile that was a hand-me-down from my mother. But I fixed it up and made it work well and look good... so my mother asked for it back! HA! I was glad to give it to her 'cause I know she'll get more exercise with it. "Everyone in town rides them to the store and such so I need it back," she said. Guess I should have come back with, "If all the retirees were jumping off cliffs, would you follow?" I've got my eye on my grandfathers even older cruiser bike... already in great condition... with basket!!

Heck, if you're not going to be doing jumps or running stairs, check out the used section of your lbs or a pawn shop and get a decent bike for a decent price that you won't have to worry about. Another suggestion I've heard is to take all the brand stickers off and put a couple of your own stickers on so that it looks a little trashy. The parts hounds won't waste time on what they think is a junker.

[goddess1222]

hey liz, i actually have a diamondback wildwood. i like it. pretty color, nice seat, decent brakes. i rode our bridge pedal here a couple years ago with it. it was fine.
i don't recall how much i spent on it, but it was nominal. i have really cool knobby tires on it too.

if you are going for the basket, make sure it has flowers on the front and a bit of glitter (heeee heee).

[missliz]

Thanks, girls. I looked for a cheapy older bike, but they're hard to come by down here- there's lots of poor people who already have them and won't part with them. The pricing is obscene, too, even the Salvation Army is out of it's mind on what crummy old bikes are worth. I just thought I'd get something mechanicly sound and comfortable.
I have the Cindy Brady white plastic basket with flowers- on my bar slumming bike. It has a couple of nice coats of glitter nail polish on the frame over a custom I-was- in-a-viper-state-of-mind paint job. Nothing ever gets done in New Orleans this time of year because Shrove Tuesday is two weeks off, and I'm sewing costumes for me and my bike. My feet are still injured, and Mardi Gras day is a long walk, so I'm taking my BMX cruiser as a portable chair. Maneuvers better than a wheelchair, though those are good to haul the cocktails along in...
Anyway, time to do the thrift stores for costume parts, so I'll look at bikes. I may just need a shiny new toy though, sort of like buying shoes.

Happy Valentines Day

missliz

[goddess1222]

hey liz, too bad you can't mount a cup holder for the cocktails. i guess you will just have to fill the water bottle with bourbon.

[missliz]

Actually, I have a nice insulated cup holder. With a wheelchair you can haul along a small bar. For the fit, a grocery cart appropriately decorated in the traditions of Italian float building can carry an elaborate full bar (I've seen blenders run on truck batteries). Just in case you thought adult trikes were for the gimps, they're really for the drunk. You can haul a nice size cart with a keg and buffet lunch with one of those puppies, but you can't get through the crowds in the French Quarter. A BMX bike will get you invited into some great parties, though and is really maneuverable. So it works- you just swill other peoples liquor. And theres no shortage of bars if you need to break down and buy your own booze. But thats lame, It's like buying beads when you should charm them out of guys on floats.
So, Mardi Gras bikes are a wierd little subculture of the Bicycle Nation. Very practical, with rhinestone trim.
I haven't been to the Gras in two years because I couldn't walk. Then last night this guy I met six months ago in the orthepedists office called and offered me tickets to the MOMs ball- fun wild underground native Mardi Gras. So I've suddenly got it on the brain 'cos two weeks isn't very long to do a good costume.

Obbsessingly

missliz