it’s a girl thing by henrietta henry
Bicycle! RediscoveRing
Bicycle!
a fieRce new
Habit
on wHeels
Have you ever gotten into something so much that it almost worries the people
around you? I’m not talking about drugs or extramarital affairs. I’m talking about
a hobby or a TV show, or something slightly dorky like Dungeons & Dragons. And
if you’ve ever really, really gotten into something, has it felt almost like an addic-
tion? Well that’s what’s been going on with me lately. I’ve really, really, gotten
into…bicycles!
Cycling should have been a no-brainer for me, being environmentally conscious
to an almost militant level. Despite this, I’ve just sort of brushed cycling off as a
sub-culture that I wasn’t interested in. Maybe I couldn’t see myself in spandex, or
wearing any shoe other than a pointy one. Or, maybe it’s because for most of my
life exercise and I have gone together sort of like how oil and water go together:
not at all. But after noticing that I got winded after climbing five or six stairs – not
staircases, just stairs – I knew something had to give.
Then my girlfriend suggested that I get a bicycle and we could go riding to-
gether. I thought about this, and realized that cycling had been a part of my life
up until I left high school. I’d started on a big wheel, moved up to a sweet My Little
Pony bike, and then a nice red 10-speed Schwinn. Once I’d gotten my first car
though, it was over—four wheels are certainly better than two when you’re 16
and starving for freedom. So my Schwinn probably ended up fetching $20 at one
of many family garage sales throughout the years.
After fondly remembering that I had once been into cycling, I decided that I’d
get back in the saddle again, and so my search was on. In fairly typical leonine
fashion, I couldn’t deal with just some beater bike. I needed a fierce and spectacu-
lar whip on which to make my glorious cycling come back, and besides, I’m older
now and deserve something a little nicer, right? I scoured Craigslist for something
“Having never built a bike from the ground up, I really had no clue what a time-consuming
and tedious task I was undertaking.”
that spoke to me; something that would reach out and practically force me onto
the frame of my dreams. Innocently browsing the bike shop near my house one
it through my computer monitor. Unfortunately, the bikes I saw were either noth-
afternoon, I happened to look up and saw it hanging from the ceiling: a ‘70s-era
ing special, or were entirely too special, by means of their insanely unreasonable
orange Italian racer, all dressed up in vintage Campagnolo. It was beautiful; the
price tags. So, I decided I’d have to build one myself.
kind of bike that would turn heads and break hearts. I knew it had to be mine. My
Having never built a bike from the ground up, I really had no clue what a time-
moment had finally arrived, and in a feverish rush of unbridled ecstasy, I bought it
consuming and tedious task I was undertaking. I figured I would find a frame and
right then and there!
go from there. I’d made up my mind though, and so the search continued, and
Slowly and patiently, I collected the parts for it, and as I write this, I am only one
I began to be consumed. I was up until all hours on eBay, Craigslist and various
part away from being ready to put it all together and start riding. Despite the ad-
other bike-related sites. My girlfriend would wake at 3:00 a.m., horrified that I was
dictive nature of this undertaking, there has been a healthy, albeit unexpected
still up, only to find me watching old Tour de France clips, reveling at the way Eddy
side effect: I’ve been sober for longer than I’ve been since I turned 21, and feel
Merckx rode to earn the nickname “The Cannibal.” “You’re going mad! You have to
fantastic. I wasn’t necessarily seeking sobriety, and I don’t think I can say that I’ve
stop!” she said. She was totally right. But I didn’t stop. I pressed on, telling myself
given alcohol up altogether – there is, after all, a Kylie Minogue concert just a few
that I would find the perfect frame for my lofty and extravagant bicycle project! I
weeks away – but it’s interesting how sometimes when you open up one door,
would be victorious!
others are in turn opened up. I’m not sure where this is all going, but so far I love it.
And then, after roughly eight weeks of mind-numbing searches, I finally did find
feedback?
itsagirlthing@ragemonthly.com
26 RAGE monthly | september 2009
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