My last bike, the Yokota Ahwahnee, is about 20 years old and has never been the easiest bike to handle. For one, the frame has always been much too large for me. Bike shops size differently today than they did in 1989. After riding single track on a nimble and light mountain bike I would find the Ahwahnee unwieldy and clumsy, even on a flat city street. I never felt like I was in complete control. As well, it is HEAVY! I used to lug it up and down the stairs to my apartment and a couple of times nearly toppled backwards from the weight. But the bike has been very kind to me over the years. I never once experienced a flat tire or lost a chain. It was nearly indestructible. I took it on a number of adventure races and it never let me down, even when I had to hike it on my shoulders for a 1 km slog through a beaver-dam swamp.(I, on the other hand, may have let it down a couple of times due to its
substantial bulk). I’ve recently done some internet searches on my old bike and they all came back with descriptions like “dependable” and “solid” and “great bike for the price”. It never complained by my lack of chain oiling or gear adjusting. Things just worked. When I bought it in 1989 it boasted what was then a state of the art chromoly frame. I guess that was to justify the price, which was for me then a fortune. I’d never spent that much on a bike before. The Bad Boy was actually slightly less in today’s dollars which makes it such a great deal for me. The manufacturer’s website describes my new bike thusly: “The Cannondale Bad Boy comes in a number of models and specs but all are ideal for urban cyclists. The Bad Boy is fast and very maneuverable and also robust enough to take the knocks from drains and curbs.” Another website describes it as “Fast, black and bad.
A bike that can take aggressive handling at high speed yet is sturdy enough to last in city traffic.” I’ve already ridden it to work on potholed city streets and can attest to its maneuverability and ease of handling. Two rides in and I already feel safer on this bike. It’s as if my Bad Boy is protecting me.
So it’s time to bid my old companion adieu and reluctantly welcome into my life its replacement. I say reluctant because I’m going to miss the Ahwahnee in a strange way. It has a cool and unique paint job – pale green with purple accents – that I have yet to see on another bike. Unlike the flat black “ninja” Bad Boy, the Ahwahnee stands out no matter where it is parked.
This was a disadvantage for a friend of mine who purchased the exact same bike the exact same week I did. She had the worst luck with her Ahwahnee. She’d locked it outside her apartment building but being new to the city neglected to lock both (quick-release) tires to the bike rack as well. The next day she came outside and both wheels were missing. She went back to the store and had them both replaced. Then she decided that she was going to play it safe and keep the bike on her second story balcony. Unfortunately the thief must have REALLY wanted that bike because it disappeared off her balcony a week later. Another trip to the store and a new, but different, bike came home with her. This one lasted her for many years but I think it’s because she kept it indoors - purportedly under lock and key.
Mine however, stuck to me like glue. It hauled books and back-packs to and from work and school, it went on some beautiful bike rides through my city’s scenic parks and it pulled children in bike carriers. But the Ahwahnee won’t be going too far away when it leaves. It plans to spend its retirement years at the lake in Ontario and take a leisurely ride now and then during the summer months when I come and visit. So long for now old friend, but not good-bye; I have a Bad Boy to ride.
