Leah, What joy to see one of your stories posted the Friday before Christmas. I'm so glad you and your friends decided to take on the challenge and were rewarded in many different ways.
You are a terrific ambassador for bicycling and Rivendell. Perhaps a few more Rivs coming to the high desert in the future. Merry Christmas, Shoji Arlington MA On Friday, December 21, 2018 at 12:59:01 AM UTC-5, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote: > > I live in suburbia. And if that isn’t bad enough, I live up high in the > desert mountains. Outside of school and a small shopping complex, there is > nothing nearby - you need to commit to a 20 minute drive down the mountain. > This really limits how one can use a bike for transportation in this > spread-out, hilly city. > > One day my friend, a nurse who is at least 15 years older than me, told me > she commutes to work by bike. I was incredulous - how did she ever get back > up the mountain? She had studied Google maps and found a safe and efficient > path, and though it was challenging, she insisted it was doable. If she > could do it, couldn’t I? > > I enlisted the company of my two best friends, and because they’re the > athletic type and extraordinarily indulgent, they accepted the challenge. > Also, it’s CHRISTMAS, so they can’t tell me no. B has a pretty yellow beach > cruiser (which she loves to pieces) but this ride would be asking a lot of > her bike. I told her she could ride my husband’s Clem. It fit her > perfectly. D had a road bike - clip-ins, drop bars and all. She didn’t > think her road bike was a good option and borrowed a neighbor’s mountain > bike instead. Our destination was a gourmet coffee shop; we figured lattes > were a reward and the caffeine would be a help on the way home. > > Oh, did we have fun! People from the community recognized me and honked > and waved; they weren’t used to seeing my bike so far from home. We were > treated like royalty at every crossing; cars yielded, graciously waving us > through, pedestrians were friendly and strangers smiled at us. Was it > because we were laughing our heads off, crunching as many leaves under our > tires as we could? Was it that the 2 Rivendells were decked out in > Christmas lights and garland and ornaments? Did they hear us jingling all > the way? I don’t know, but we felt totally safe and I was gleeful. The > trees along the path were dropping their orange and yellow leaves right on > us as we rolled by, and the grass was freshly cut and fragrant. I saw all > sorts of beauty in the landscape that I had never noticed by car. I threw > my head back and yelled that this was the best possible way to end 2018. > > Once we arrived at the shop, we looked around for a place to park our > bikes. The shop owner adjoining the coffee shop came out and pointed out me > and said, “I recognize you! I have watched you ride your bike with your > boys to their school for YEARS. What are you doing all the way down here?! > You can leave your bikes right here by my storefront. I’ll watch your > bikes. Also, here’s some free things from my store; you come back here if > you need anything.” > > We savored our coffee, discussed all the things, and finally pointed our > bikes toward the mountain. The climb was so much easier than it appeared! > We carried on a conversation even at the steepest parts; we stopped once to > shed a layer of clothing and continued on our way. Our Apple Watches say > 927 feet of elevation and 1 hour and 45 minutes of riding for the whole > trip. I think we could have kept going. We are definitely doing this again, > and we’re taking more friends with us. > > Pictured is us with our bikes and the personalized cuff B made and gifted > to me for Christmas/the ride. She has an Etsy shop and makes beautiful > things. If you are astute, you’ll notice it’s done in Betty Foy colors. PM > me if you want a link to her Etsy shop - you may be able to order something > in time for the holidays. > > Merry Christmas! > Leah -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
