a new ride, after 15 years...and new homes for the others

15 years! at this rate it means i'll have this beauty til I'm 60-65. that's okay, i'm content just thinking i've laid the foundation to still be moving at 65...the bonus will be this beautiful set of wheels lasting til then. oh, and it will. i'm a trek devotee, and they've all lasted quite a while. i recalled all my previous bikes today and here's the purchase history:

• 1st trek = 420 touring bike, bought in DC at citybike in 1987...oodles of miles
• 2nd trek = 7500 hybrid bike, bought in Berkeley at missing link in 1997...~800 miles per year commuting for 15 years
• 3rd trek = 1000 road bike bought from YHC pal paige in Athens in 2010...barely tried it
• 4th trek = FX7.4 hybrid bought in ATL Trek southside in 2012...we shall see

an interesting part of the story to me, is not just how long they lasted me and where they went, but who they went to for the 'next' chapter of their lives.

• i sold the touring bike to a para-athlete at lake tahoe who wore a blade on one leg; she needed a bike without those clipless pedals, in other words, an old fashioned pedal cage was best suited to balance her prosthetic on the pedal and not trap her
• i still have the hybrid bike, and as recently as this weekend, she was my go to ride. but admittedly she was much heavier than aluminum or carbon fiber frames, with a welded seat post, and well worn shifters, and thus holding me back a bit. she'll serve as a bike for weekend guests
• i sold the shiny red road bike to my pal Ilka who loves her and prefers the road style ride whereas i could no longer hunch over and knew pretty quickly after i rescued her from paige's dusty garage, that i  preferred a sit-up straight style and there was no use denying it.
• that brings me to the new pearl hybrid beauty that i will commute on, and do charity rides, rail-trails, and as of last weekend,  perhaps a few more events, like the duathlon jeff and i entered in griffin, which was great fun. and she only weighs 24 lbs. so i will finally find it easy to load my bike on top of the subaru for travelin.