Many of you remember seeing pictures of me on the blue bicycle with small wheels. I bought this new in 2002 for about $1800.00, custom made by Peregrine Bicycle Works of Chico, California.
This bicycle was fun to ride. Â It performed almost as well as many conventional “road” bikes; it only weighed 22 pounds; it felt stiff and fast. Â I had ridden it for so long that I was used to its eccentricities. Â I rode it even when I did not need its folding capabilities.
It would fit in a suitcase for air travel.
On Amtrak I could just fold it up and lug it onboard without a case. Â Getting off the train, I could reassemble it in less than a minute and bike away from the platform.
I have been in quite a few foreign countries and many states of the USA with this bicycle during the past fifteen years. Â While I own a couple of other bicycles, this one has always been my favorite. Â Â I have had a lot of maintenance done to it over the years, but I never would have predicted what happened three weeks ago.
I was out for a fifteen mile spin on country roads near my home in Chapel Hill NC. Â Â Three fourths of the way into the ride, the bicycle started feeling “funny.” Â The frame felt slightly wobbly. Â Â I stopped about three times, shaking the bicycle and looking for problems, but could not find any.
Going slowly because it was uphill, Â on Dairyland Road coming back towards Chapel Hill, just before the turnoff to Union Grove Church Road, the bicycle suddenly snapped in half, dumping me on the road. Â Â I may have passed out for a moment, I remember thinking that I was now on the road and my shoulder was messed up.
Luckily no car ran into me and a couple cars stopped to help out. Â One turned out to be my friend Brian Stapleton, who scooped the bicycle and me up. Â We called my wife Tootie on the phone and she met us at our apartment and we drove to the urgent orthopedic clinic.
I have a nicely broken clavicle (collar bone), broken ribs that have been extremely painful, and a substantially bruised hip, which has resulted in swelling called a hematoma. Â The hip may take months to completely heal. Â Three weeks later I am walking around but still in pain.
My bicycle guru Gordon Sumerel says that this kind of structural failure should not happen ever, anytime, on any bicycle. Â It was not something that I should have anticipated. Â Am I angry at the manufacturer? Â I have trouble getting angry at people, so not especially. Â This was a hand built machine by a small business that no longer makes this kind of bicycle. Â I get the impression he is almost a one man shop. Â I am a small business person myself so I can understand his situation.
I have not decided what type of bicycle I will get to replace this. Â I want to think about it for a while.
For the moment I can reminisce about just some of the places this bicycle went with me.











Outside our 1980’s apartment in Miami FL 2014







In front of Trump’s Mar a Lago, Palm Beach FL 2016
Among the bikers, near Daytona Beach FL 2012
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