Not To Be Trusted With Knives

My Shiny New Bike! It’s Shiny!

July 18, 2011 by Beth

I finally found a hybrid bike that fits in the trunk of my Smart car! And it’s shiny and new and fun to ride and it’s sitting in my apartment right now because I bought it on Saturday! Item #73 on my list of 101 of things to do in 1001 days, consider yourself crossed off that list!

The bike that I ended up buying is the Cannondale Quick 3. It’s a sweet little hybrid with a carbon fibre fork, two quick release wheels, and a whole lot of awesome.

Look how pretty it is!

The best part, of course, is that I can fit it in the trunk of my Smart car!

Thankfully, I’m very short, so my bike is the “petite” model (which is what Cannondale apparently calls their “extra small” bikes.), which means its small enough to fit into my trunk. The quick release wheels take just seconds to remove and it’s really light, so it’s super-easy to get it in and out of my car.

Of course, once you buy a bike, you have to buy a few accessories to go with it! Fortunately, I happened to have a gift card to Mountain Equipment Co-op, so I went there to buy the things I needed. Things like:

A bike lock

A bicycle tire pump

A water bottle holder

A thermos that seals tight and fits into the water bottle holder, in order to bring my coffee to work on days when I bike!

I probably should get a few other things, like some lights and such, but I figure that we are still having fairly long days, it allegedly being summer ((I say “allegedly” because, although the amount of daylight we get and the date on the calendar suggests it is summer, our weather is decidedly autumnal.)) and all, so I have some time before I need to figure that out. Because I have to say that this shopping for bikes and bike accessories has really made me feel like there are too. many. choices. The options for types of bikes ((road, mountain, hybrid, commuter, fitness, cyclocross, etc.)) and features on those bikes ((Do you want disc brakes or V brakes? Internal gear hubs or derailleurs? etc.)) and what those bikes are made of, etc. – were rather overwhelming. And then I went to MEC and there were eleventy billion options for locks and pumps and really I just wanted someone to tell me what to buy! Anyway, I’m pretty happy with what I got, so it’s all good.

Last night, I took it for its inaugural ride ((Well, its inaugural ride as *my* bike. I did take it for a test ride before I bought it and I’m sure others test road it as well.)) – a quick trip around the block and have to say it’s lots of fun to ride:

I’m looking forward to taking her out for some longer rides – perhaps a seawall trip in the near future? As well, I’m planning to ride her to work when I can – the beginning of this week doesn’t look good for that, as I have meetings I have to get to and thus will need my car. But perhaps Thursday or Friday I will be able to!

Also, I need to think of a good name for my bike ((My car, of course, is named Zaphod Beeblebrox the Car)). Any suggestions?

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