on reuniting with an old love
969 reasons to believe it’s possible
I fell in love.
It’s not a new love.
In reality? It’s a love I had before I met Laura.
Ever since picking up this beauty, my mind has been captured.
I’ve been fully occupied—obsessed—by my new, old love.
We hooked up back in ’96 when I graduated from university. We rolled through the streets of Toronto together when I first lived in the city.
And then?
One morning I woke up to discover that my love had disappeared—stolen by a thief in the night.
Ever since then?
My heart has felt like a piece of it was missing.
I never really recovered.
Oh sure, I’ve had other loves, but this one?
This one was special.
When I moved to Toronto I left home with my guitar, backpack, and my chromoly steel love.
She was a 1995 Univega Alpina 501.
Her gray frame was svelte, double-butted, and whippy.
She was with me on all of my earliest Toronto adventures.
We blazed down Richmond together for late-night jazz at The Cameron House.
She joined me at work as my trusty steed as I roamed the city streets as a messenger.
She carried me home, saving me from making poor life choices with loose women.
And?
She was built by Zeke.
Yes, dear reader, my adventure cycling buddy Zeke built this bike.
He sold me the damn thing twenty years before I knew him.
It’s a funny thing.
Whenever I get on one of Zeke’s bikes I think to myself: “Man, this thing feels so perfect.”
If I had all of Lonny’s money, I’d pay Zeke to be my full-time personal bike mechanic.
This bike was stolen in 2005.
I was heartbroken.
But two weeks ago, I found another one—the same bike—on Marketplace.
I negotiated a fair price—$80—and picked it up yesterday.
It looked as if it spent most of its life in a basement. There were some signs of wear, but it was clear she hadn’t been used much at all.
It still had the original brake pads. The tires still had the little rubber nubby tire whiskers on them.
In short?
It was pristine—unridden—mint.
But the best part of this basement find was the sticker.
It came from the same shop as my original.
Zeke built this bike 30 years ago.
And after 30 years in a basement, his work held true.
She rolls great and shifts beautifully.
They say you can never go home.
It’s never quite the same.
But you can rekindle an old love.
Especially when the love is made from 969 chromoly tubing and was built to last by Zeke.
It’s funny. Though Zeke and I have only been riding together for a decade now, he was with me long before that.
Happy trails, you Fools!
