March 12, 2012

Beater Bike, Broke Bike

(Fourteenth a series of stories about every bike I've ever owned.)

I traded in my red Miyata 710 and a hundred dollar bill for a lilac Miyata 712 after learning I ride a 52cm frame, not a 56cm. It came with a complete Shimano 105 groupset, including the downtube shifters and even the hubs. I put around 4000 mostly rainy miles on this beautiful bike until...

...one May day, on the way back from the French Toast ride, I was riding side by side chatting with a friend. We were approaching a little corner of the I-205 bike path, when ZAM! There was a guy coming right toward me at about 20 mph.

Our front wheels met perfectly and both of our rear wheels left the ground. We knocked noggins and I thought I saw little bluebirds circling my head. This guy was just like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. He looked at me, looked at his watch, jumped up while saying "I'm late! I'm late", and was off.

The second worst part of the accident is that it was my fault. I should've known better than to ride on the wrong side and not keep a close eye out, especially at a blind curve. The first worst part is that the frame broke in two places and had to be retired. I'm open to suggestions on what to do with this frame.

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