The Bike
In a recent post, I mentioned I wanted to talk more about my bike. Here’s the story of how I got in to cycling:
Two and a half years ago, my friend Lisa asked me if I wanted to do a 60 mile ride with her (Tour de Cure). At the time, she was commuting to school on a mountain bike with road tires, and I hadn’t ridden any type of bike in a few years. I started training for the ride with her on a borrowed hybrid. Our first ride was less than 15 miles. The next ride was 30 miles. The next one was supposed to be 40…but we got lost and did 50! After that I was hooked. I loved the epic nature of road cycling, and just wanted to keep going farther and farther.
Due to health and serious life changes (e.i., getting sober!) I only cycled heavily on and off for the next couple years after that, and now here we are.
For over a year now, I have wanted a new bicycle. I had a budget in mind, and after looking at stock bikes a bit, it inched up. I kept thinking, “I don’t want to spend this much on something that’s just ‘ok’”. I knew a custom bike would be more expensive, but I decided to have a chat with Phillip Shama, of Shama Cycles, and see if he could convince me.
And…he did.
I decided to pay to get fitted and look at my options, and while I was hesitant to commit, I knew in my heart I would do it. I totally bought the bike of my dreams.
It is semi-custom. The Guru Photon was voted Bicycle Magazine’s bike of the year, and in some ways I feel I don’t deserve it! Buying myself a new bike was definitely part of a reward to myself for reaching certain benchmark goals in my health.
At first I felt like someone like me shouldn’t have a bike like that. I am learning better: that I deserve good and great things, and that I can be great as well.
So, that’s the story!
What a beautiful bike! Loved reading this post! :)