Bad News



On Monday, July 1, I ran errands by bike: a trip to Target and a Mexican grocery store (great prices on produce), and stops at the bank and hardware store, where I bought wire mesh to put between the storage room and the rest of the attic (rat room.) I was proud of all the stuff I managed to haul home without burning a drop of gas.

I leaned my bike against the house, hauled my purchases inside, threw a load of laundry in the machine and then and hung it out on the line. After that, I got busy with work until Gauss came home. We ate dinner, and I went outside to get the dry clothes. Seeing that the bikes were no longer leaning against the house, I thanked Gauss for putting them away.

“I didn’t put them away,” he said. “I thought you did.”

Crap! It dawned on us that someone else “taken care” of our bikes.

The landlady swore that in 25 years, they haven't had to lock their doors, and most people don’t even know that our cottage is back here—but apparently someone has been watching.

We are now locking doors and windows religiously.

Fortunately, we have insurance, and will get some kind of settlement for the loss. We visited the Trek store in San Jose to get an idea of the replacement cost for my beloved Trek 7500. Gauss found a simple, but well-made road bike there to replace his trusty Batavus 10-speed. I haven’t found the perfect bike for myself yet, but in the meantime, I’ve bought a $50 beater on Craigslist that I can take to Trader Joe’s and the swimming pool.

We feel as if we’ve lost a couple of old friends. The Batavus was the first bike Gauss bought with his own money, back in the mid-70s. I purchased my Trek before riding TRAM, the MS Society’s Ride Across Minnesota, in 2001. Since then, I’ve taken it on scores of rides with my Saturday morning Twin Cities bike group, countless workouts in the country near our Stillwater house, along the shores of Lake Superior, and now the Bay Area.

Here’s a pic of my bike at the Lester River, taken one June when we were in Duluth for Grandma’s Marathon.


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