thou shalt have no other bikes before me.

Today I went to West Valley to look at a bike.

I've been thinking about growing my fleet for a while now, getting an affordably priced yet durable road bike for exercise and maybe the occasional trip up and down the beasty hills or on the Trax that the Old Dutch can't really handle. So I saw one on Craigslist that seemed to fit the bill and I went out to West Valley to give it a spin.

It was, as my brother had observed, over priced. It looked like a bike that had been well used, and it rode like a bike that for what it was, was not a bad ride. But it was not a great ride. It was not revolutionary-- not at all!-- in fact, it was completely lacking in the sublime spirituality that I feel when I hop on the Old Dutch Treat. It was like driving a Geo Metro after one has been driving a BMW. It was too rickety, too light, too close to the ground, just too awful. Even the Costco Special rides better.

I offered the lady a sum I knew she would not accept and then made my hasty retreat. I had escaped the clutches of a bike I would never love, lesson learned. The Old Dutch has ruined me forever.