Saturday 30 May 2009

A New Wire Donkey

I have been referring to the garage as the stable and to the bikes inside as 'steel ponies'.

After my mountain bike was run over in 2001, I replaced it with another Giant mountain bike. After awhile though, my neck started to bother me. So in 2006, Ruzter raised the handlebars for me by about 3 inches. I rode around with that modification for awhile, but my neck still bothered me, and my wrists, elbows and shoulders were not very happy.

I bought a Specialized cruiser-type bike in 2007 and that bike helped my wrists and my neck, but for some reason, when riding it, my knees started to hurt badly. The Geek and I measured the seat/pedal/ground angle and found the Giant's seat was three degrees less upright than the Specialized. I went back to the Giant as my neck and wrists hurt less on that bike than my knees did on the Specialized.

Then on Thursday, Dea, my athletic therapist, told me my sore wrists were in fact carpal tunnel. I decided then that I couldn't use the Giant anymore, even tho' I did ride it to work on Friday.
Luckily for me, The Geek stopped by Natural Cycle to pick up some cable and said their stable of Batavus bikes had been replenished.
I had been test driving a Batavus off and on for about a year both at Natural Cycle and at Red Bike in Edmonton. (The folks at Natural Cycle were starting to tease me about 'visiting my bike' whenever I came in.) Today I went and bought this one. Be a tightwad, I wasn't ready to spend the money on a truly upright bike, but I figured it would be cheaper than extensive therapy or possibly surgery on my wrists.
The Geek and I haven't measured the seat angle, but it feels considerably less steep than the Giant.

Oh, and in Germany, bicycles are colloquially called Drahtesel. Wire Donkey. I think that is so cute!

1 comment:

Dottie said...

Congratulations! That is one good-lookin' bike!