Ride Down Memory Lane, Part Two

Here's the follow-up to the previous post, remembering the bikes I've ridden … well, not every single bike I've ever ridden ~ just the ones I've been able to call mine.
But before we get to that, here's a photo of bikes from the previous post, my brother on number (3) and me on number (4).

Anyway, if you're too lazy to read the previous post, here's where we are in the timeline, dear reader. We've just moved back to Colorado, and I've been riding a 9-year-old mountain bike as a commuter as I make my way around Longmont. I rode it in to the church building, to make hospital and home visits, and to run errands. My kids fondly remember riding in a trailer behind that bike to go to the YMCA, after which we'd ride through the drive-through pizza place, slide our dinner under their seat in the trailer, and make our way back home or to the church building for meetings.

7) We didn't live in Colorado for too long before I decided I wanted to start competing participating in triathlons ~ for which I would need a road bike. I entered one race in February. But since the bike portion of that race was on a gravel surface, so I was able to ride my mountain bike.
So, about a week before my first on-road event, I picked up the cheapest road bike. Two training rides before the race, and the high-pressure narrow tires felt effortless compared to the knobby mountain bike tires I was used to by then.

I rode that bike for quite a few years, little by little getting it set up exactly like I wanted it ~ the right gearing, streamlined cockpit, etc.

Within a year after we moved to Denver (in separate incidents), the mountain bike and the road bike (along with my wife's road bike, which was originally identical to mine) were stolen out of our garage ~ I blame the drug-dealing hoarder who lived in the garage across the alley.

We got her road bike back, but my two are gone. But since by this point she was no longer interested in road cycling, I took that bike over as mine, gradually (again) setting it up just like I like it.

8) With that bike set up as a triathlon bike, I needed something for around town. I jumped on the fixie bandwagon with a bike I found for pretty cheap on craigslist. Now, at least on the city streets, I can feel like I can pretend to be a hipster.

9) Sometime along the way, my brother's old mountain bike became mine. I've ridden it in a couple of off-road triathlons, and done some (really tame) mountain biking with my kids. It's been hanging in the garage for about a year, for want of a little minor work to the front shock.

10) The bike I'm riding this week in the Fuller Center Bicycle Adventure is one I picked up for really cheap. I'd like to start going out on shop-sponsored group rides, and a triathlon bike is inappropriate for that activity ~ so I got this one set up as a road bike that will also serve well as a commuter on my 13-mile ride to the office (since it's a little far and a little hilly for the fixie).

I took it out for one last training ride. It felt great for those 30 miles, and I trust that it'll keep feeling great for the 400+ were riding this next week.

To the two of my seven readers who lasted to the end, thanks for indulging my ride down memory lane.

Let the adventure continue.