In case you haven’t heard – I GOT A BIKE!!!!!

I’ve been yelling and cheering about it all day long. I realized a few months ago that I really wanted a bike. Unfortunately, I didn’t really do anything about it and refused to ask for one for Christmas. I never thought that anyone would be able to get one in their budget. Bikes are big business and can get really expensive.

When I was a kid I was a pretty skilled bike rider. I learned to ride a two-wheeler and never looked back. When it came time for the annual Hespeler Optimist Bike Rodeo, I was right there in my element. The rodeo gave me a chance to show my skills, my hand eye coordination, my safety knowledge and my super awesome ability to rock my bike. I actually won the entire rodeo twice and came out with two new bikes.

Unfortunately those bikes were all gone over the next few years, including my awesome purple bmx that I used to win the rodeo. The first bike was a mountain bike and my dad ended up giving it to my cousin who’s parents couldn’t really afford a new bike. The second was a 10 speed that my dad gave to my niece when she outgrew her own bike. I wasn’t really riding it all the time anymore as I had my drivers license so it wasn’t that big a deal.

And here I am, 32 years old and would love to go for a ride, but no bike to do it. I started looking off and on with www.kijiji.ca. What’s nice about kijiji is that you are able to search in specific areas and price ranges. Sure I saw some wonderful bikes that were a little too expensive, and then some crappy bikes at wonderful prices. I emailed someone on a bike at the end of the summer that they said they were selling for their grandmother. The bike was all awesome and retro and looked perfect for my needs. Sadly – they never responded and the ad even stayed up for a month longer. Every time I saw it I got this bad taste in my mouth.

Two days before Christmas I suddenly realized that I should’ve asked for a bike from Santa. I started looking pretty seriously again at bikes and noticed an advertisement from a bike shop in Kitchener that was having a big sale this week. My dream bike was on sale half price – but that was still over $300. Knowing that I needed a good solid adult bike, I was almost ready to go buy one.

Turn on boxing day. I knew that people would be selling things after Christmas, I thought I’d give it a shot. Kijiji allows you to sell things second hand so would this be my chance to find a bike??? I log on and not only did I find a bike, but it was in Cambridge – located within a bikes ride of our house! The price was just over $100, it was cruiser, has white wall tires and a basket. I’ve always loved my mom’s retro bike – of course hers was actually from when she was a teenager so it truly is an original. Her bike has a book rack, where the one I was interested in has a basket.

I sent off a message “I would be interested in seeing the bike.” I was going to include more, but my loving husband thought that was enough. If I was first to respond, they should be able to answer and I might get a bike. Hours and hours went by and I kept checking my email for a response. Sadly – there was nothing. I gave up by the evening but was shocked when my husband turned on the computer to see that I had gotten an email. We arranged to meet the following day (today).

We drove over this morning and as soon as I saw the bike I couldn’t help but smile. The bike wasn’t overly used, and the gentleman who was selling it on behalf of his wife told us they were updating to a mountain bike because they wanted to get more off the beaten path. The gentleman we dealt with was so nice. He even adjusted the seat lower so that I could ride on it with my short legs. I was so excited to hear the little ding of the bell, and how easy it was to get the basket on and off so that I can take it shopping with me.

The hubby took a ride and compared it to a shopping cart. I knew that would be what I was getting. Being that I’m not the same kind of skilled rider I once was, I knew that this bike would not be winning the bike rodeo any time soon.

I honestly, couldn’t stop smiling the whole time. The bike had to be mine and I was so happy to give him the money and put it in the car. as soon as we got home, I hopped on the bike took a spin for myself. I’m still smiling at it now – even though it was bloodly cold!!!

I’m the proud owner of a Schwinn 3-speed Cruiser with a basket, bell and white wall tires. And I’m happy. Oh so happy. 🙂