Farewell Special Eds

Two weeks ago, I joined a club that nobody wants to be in, yet most members of the Facility Bike Club are already in. I had a bike stolen. Actually, both of my mountain bikes were stolen from my garage along with a bunch of my other stuff. Fortunately my old Trek avoided that fate by being on loan to Barbara. Her bike was stolen a month or two ago.

Both of my stolen bikes were Specialized Enduros. The original got its name "Special Ed" after a lunchtime ride up a sand wash a few years ago. It was summer and the sand was deep, dry, and soft. I fell over 5 times on the way up the hill and Jeff said "Your bike may be a Specialized, but the way you ride it is more like Special Ed". I took the cue and taped over every 'IZ' on the bike that night. From then on it was known as Special Ed.

Special Ed started to get tired last year so I decided it was time for a replacement. I bought Special Ed II last March and barely got to know it before it was removed from my garage early this March.

The day after the theft, I let the group know I couldn't ride because I didn't have any bikes. Barbara immediately told me she would give me my Trek back and Jeff said he would let me ride his single speed. I was already thinking about buying a single speed and I wanted to keep as many people riding as possible, so I took Jeff up on his offer and told Barbara to keep riding my Trek.

I had to take my first single speed ride alone because I had meetings scheduled during lunch hour (stupid work!). I took an easy ride, paced myself, and was glad I hadn't eaten lunch early because I would have left it at the top of the climb. My second ride was with the group and we did a tough climb; Hail Mary, aka Race Loop, aka C1C2C3, aka Hell - Fire - Damnation. This time, not only would I have lost my lunch, but I also considered coughing up a lung, although in a masochistic sort of way I was starting to enjoy it.

By the end of the week, realizing it would be a while before I could replace my Special Eds, I was hitting the local bike shops and checking out single speeds. After riding several of them, I ordered a GT Ruckus and am now waiting for it to arrive.

I guess the moral of the story is; when life hands you lemons, borrow a single speed and take your agressions out on the hill. Thanks for loaning me the bike, Jeff.

Also, there are several ways to booby trap your garage entrances with hand grenades. Learn them if you are going to own nice bikes.