If you looked in the back of the shop at Swicked, you’d see a big assortment of bikes that are not for sale.
These are my bikes. I’ve created quite the collection over time and I seem to have a bike for every use. There is my favourite trail bike, a dirt jumper, a DH bike, my custom cruiser bike, and of course my trusty road bike (the green machine).
All of these bikes are babied with the best maintenance, constant cleaning, and regular upgrades as the industry provides new advancements. They are all part of the family.
On top of my bike collection, Chenoa and I share a “winter bike.” This is a road bike we use to commute, tow the kids in the trailer, and when the weather gets nasty, like now, it becomes my go-to training bike.
Sadly, the winter bike does not get the same attention. It seems to get treated like the red-headed step child.
Being in California for a big part of January allowed me to ride a lot of road, but I didn’t even consider the winter bike. She was stuck at home in the cold and dark garage. Not one thought was wasted on her as I rode along the Pacific Coast soaking up the sun on my 17 pound, carbon fibre race bike.
Now that we’re home again, and the weather is less than ideal, the “nice” bikes have been cleaned and lubed and are hung up in the warm shop enjoying some down time.
But the old work horse winter bike is back on the road. Grab her off the hook, slap some oil on the chain, maybe, and head out into the snow, salt, and slop for a grimy ride that I will most likely complain about when I get home.
“This bike is too slow.”
“It needs to lose some weight.”
Or maybe “We should get a new winter bike and trash this one.”
I know, I sound like a big baby, and I can imagine these comments, and lack of attention, can be hard on the ego, but she just keeps plugging along like a loyal member of the team … until yesterday.
Halfway home on my commute, she finally had enough. Just as I was suffering on a climb and tried to gear down, she quit, said “no more,” and stopped shifting.
It was then I realized how unfair I’d been. Spending countless hours coddling all my other bikes and zero effort on the winter bike. She should be upset, she probably works harder than any of the others.
So I pulled over, grabbed a tool, and did some quick maintenance, talked her down a bit and we rode home together. The next day I scheduled an overhaul. That’s like a full spa day for bikes. Then I moved her into a warm space with her step siblings.
Our winter bike is running great again and she seems to be way happier.
I’m James Durand and I’m Goin’ Ridin’…