I am situated between 2 LBS's. A high-end Bikeline and a mid-range Performance Bike. Last Friday I called Performance Bike for info on bikes, then went in at lunch to look them over, then called later in the afternoon to get info on higher-end bikes. The salesperson kept promising to call me back with the styles of a few Trek 7.6 FX equivalent in their brands. I called back much later in the day and he still hadn't walked the ten steps to get me the info. Saturday and still no call so I biked to the bus stop and went to Bikeline where within 10 minutes on a very busy store day, I had bought the Trek.

Today on a whim I called the manager of the Performance Bike store and politely told her of my bad service in their store which led me to drop $1000 for a bike and accessories at their nearby comptetitor, Bikeline. I could hear her gasp several times in a row. She thanked me profusely for taking the time to politely let the store know about the problem and she ended up giving me a free pannier.

Meanwhile back at the WalMart rusty clunker that I rode to the bus stop on Saturday on the way to buy a new bike. I don't have the space or desire to keep it since it's in such bad rusty cosmetic shape for anything but pedaling around a very limited area by someone who doesn't take biking seriously. It weighed a ton but was mechanically sound.

So, at the bus stop I didn't chain it up to an immoveable objust but instead laid it down on the ground like kids are prone to do. No one was going to steal it unless they they were desparate. Or a kleptomaniac.

When the bus pulled away from it, despite or perhaps because of it being an ugly child of a thing with incurable disability issues in the speed department, I felt a lump in my throat as I saw it get smaller and smaller as the bus pulled away.

A day later it was gone, of course. Just as I suspected. I suppose I should have put a "free bike" sign on it but I didn't. I'm not quite sure why. Instead I wrote a note and stuffed it under the seat where it wouldn't be found until much later if at all. It simply read, "I'm glad you have this bike. Apparently it was destined for you to find it. The only payment I would ask is that you would someday remember that once when you thought you were stealing something, you were actually receiving a gift from my heart to yours. Someday, when the time is right, please do the same."