Handmade Bike Tote Bag and my Bike-story

Click on the photo to check out this awesome tote bag I just listed on my shop!

I hope you all had a great Memorial Weekend. You could say it marks the beginning of Summer biking! I love riding my bike so much. There is a certain freedom I feel when I do so. It’s not smugness of any kind. It’s just a genuine appreciation of how hard my body works when biking up the many hills here in Portland. I also love that it gives me the excuse to never have to step into a gym! I am an all-weather bike commuter (okay fine, it doesn’t snow here) so yeah, I even enjoy biking in the cold (November?) rain. I truly do! That’s how much I love biking.

In honor of this awesome tote bag with the coolest bike print ever I just listed on my shop, I will reminisce about all those bikes that have served me well over the years.

I once caught my shoelaces on the chain and I fell down in front of a whole bunch of teenagers. It wasn’t a good day.

Bikey Number 1.

I went to college in Savannah, Georgia where it is flat and I did not own a car (a car-less college student? Oh yeah I was POPULAR), so I decided to get my first bike since I was a young girl. The college shuttle took me to the nearest Wal-mart where I picked up this Men’s Huffy beach cruiser on sale for $50. SURPRISINGLY ENOUGH, that bike lasted at least 5 years until I moved away. I never had to even replace a pedal. I’d say the best $50 investment EVER.

Bikey Number 2

After selling my Hyundai Sonata a few months into living in Portland, I bought a super awesome Marin City Commuter in killer gray at Seven Corners Cycle. Good solid little bike. I sold it to buy….

La Rabiosa and my obnoxiously bright self at Pittock Mansion, overlooking all of Portland. The ride was 2.7 miles but it took me an hour to complete it BECAUSE 16% GRADE HILL.

Bikey Number 3

Oh, Bikey Number 3, a.k.a La Rabiosa, a.k.a. the bike of my dreams, a.k.a. the bike that somehow directed the path my life is heading right now. A cross-country trip was planned thanks to this Surly Long Haul Trucker touring road bike. She was everything I needed. And then it got stolen. It still kinda hurts.

No, SRSLY, don’t even try stealing this one. DONT EVEN LET ME CATCH YOU LOOKING AT IT

 Bikey Number 4

I may be thumbing up in that photo, but what I really wanted to convey was a middle finger and a threatening “COME AT ME THIEVES I WILL F**K YOU UP”. Bikey Number 4 is a Surly Long Haul Trucker as well and purchased a month after La Rabiosa was stolen. I was angry, stressed out and I pondered adding a THIRD lock to my security arsenal. But Bikey No. 4 has been a darling to me and I accepted her as the bike of my dreams because, really, Bikey #3 just ain’t coming back. I think I will go wild this Summer and switch out the blue handlebar tape for… I dunno, FLAMES.

So that’s my bike story, do you have a faaaaaaaaaaavorite bike? I’d love to know her story!

Love,

Amy