Friday Group Ride #8

OK. Circle up. Circle up. Zip up your jackets. Straighten your knee warmers. Adjust the velcro on your shoes. It’s time to roll out.

I got to thinking recently that, though the TDU wrapped up and the pros are moving on to minor races and mini-camps and whatnot, the season still hasn’t really begun. It’s torturing me a bit actually. I’ve read the Cycle Sport Season Preview twice. I’m ready.

The Etoiles de Bességes is on, but I can’t watch it. Tour of Qatar is coming. Yawn. Hot. Flat. Sandy. It’s a training ride.

So, absent my first choice of cycling entertainment, let’s turn to my second: equipment.

This week’s question is this: What bike, that you’ve owned and ridden, has been your absolute favorite and why?

Mine is the red Peugot CPX-100 dirt bike I got for Christmas when I was eight. I’ve loved a lot of bikes, but no other machine proved as great a revelation as that one. That bike gave me a style and independence that I had wanted so badly without even knowing it. It gave me access to miles of trails and jumps, tucked back in the woods near the house, and gave me, for the first and last time in my life, the nicest ride among my friends.

I have an old, steel Moser that I’m quite fond of. I have a Surly Cross-Check that has seen me through a couple of winters, but that old red BMX is my all-time favorite.

Your turn.