As I mentioned a while ago, I got a new bike for Christmas – yay!!  It was technically meant to be a birthday present, but I accidentally saw it get delivered and sort of strong-armed my way into receiving it early.  I did my best to play along, assuming it would show up under the Christmas tree á la A Christmas Story (hence the name); when it didn’t, well…let’s just leave it there, shall we?

She is a 1969 Raleigh Robinhood and showed up with the dust of storage still on her, so we thought it best to take her to Loco Motion bike shop to get her tuned up.  It should be quite obvious that there was only one method of transport fit for my new belle: she would be escorted by another loving and caring bike, of course!  Then I figured, if you are going to haul, why not haul in heels?  It was surprisingly easy to handle and I might have even forgotten about the extra passenger if it weren’t for all the dropped jaws we passed along the way.

I hauled her the ~5 miles to the shop and had to laugh when the guys didn’t even bat an eyelash at me bringing in a bike by bike and in heels and a skirt.  Don’t me wrong–I’m actually quite introverted and don’t like making a scene.  I just find it funny that they take it all in stride; I think that’s probably a good thing!

I should have picked up my belle on Tuesday, but I got hit with a nasty case of the flu and couldn’t make it happen.  Sadly, it wasn’t until Friday that I was well enough to ride out and get her.  I was still dressed from work and didn’t realize that my black dress and purple suede pumps made it look like quite the formal affair!  “Tis apropos, I suppose–it is a new bike, after-all!

It was well worth the wait.  Riding the Red Ryder feels like the bike equivalent of the scarf and sunglass-donning starlet of old Hollywood driving a convertible down the Pacific Highway.  It’s so nimble and fun!  We finally had some nice weather today and it was such a joy to get out for a ride.  There isn’t much else to say except that I love this bike.