A bicycle story

I once had a beautiful, sea blue beach cruiser bicycle with a white wire basket and a matching bell that chimed pleasantly to warn passersby of my arrival. I saved up for the bike between my freshman and sophomore year of college and rode it happily to school and work each day, zooming along the blackberry bush-lined bike trail that connected my apartment to campus. I took my bike to the park on weekends, rode it back from the store with groceries in the basket, and when my friend Jenny visited from England, she rode it around too, fascinated at how our California "university" culture was obsessed with these oversized two-wheelers meant for boardwalks.

Then one day, someone cut the lock and took my bike away in broad daylight. I was furious. And I’ve always wondered what happened to it. Sold for parts? Sold in another county? Another state? It's one of life's little mysteries...And I later learned that bike thieves make off with 200,000 bikes every single year. The madness!!

Now I have a new bike - great and less valuable - but not nearly as magical. ;)

Also:
- a famous Australian bicycle poem
- the coolest hand-painted bike bells
- the app by my mountain biking enthusiast of a brother uses when riding crazy trails like this 

*Painting: "A Dog's Pace" by Carolee Clark