Rule No. 12 – While the minimum number of bikes one should own is three, the correct number is N+1 , where N is the number of bikes currently owned. This equation may also be re-written as S-1, where S is the number of bikes owned that would result in separation from your partner.

The Rules

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While N+1 is a great rule, I more often think backward to the bikes of a lifetime past.  It is the bikes of years long ago that have shaped me.

My first bike, if memory serves was red and it had training wheels. It may have had streamers coming out of the handlebar ends as well. I am told that when I received it, I wanted to take it to bed with me as if it were a stuffed animal. The love affair was perhaps ignited. While I do not remember much more about the bike, I certainly do remember being taught how to ride it without the training wheels on the asphalt of Cedarvale Public School.

My second bike was a “banana seat” style bike popular in the 1970s. It was the definition of freedom. I rode it everywhere; to school, to Hebrew school after school, and to baseball practices and games. It had a rear view mirror and a red  bag that fit within the deep “U” of the handlebars. It was cavernous and would fit books, lunch and a baseball glove.

My third bike was the big leagues. It was no doubt a CCM 10 speed. Real gears. More freedom to go farther, not that I or we really went that far. It would have been measured in kilometres, not 10s of kilometres. After awhile, the gears did not really work that well, but it really did not matter. We were not “Breaking Away” and I was not then nor am I now the most adept at fixing things. Changing a tire is as technical as I really get. It was good enough to go to baseball and once a year downtown to the Detroit River for the annual fireworks show. Big night out. I do recall though installing on it (poorly no doubt) a front light with a generator that ran against the sidewall of the front tire. (No need for lithium, but I bet there was some copper in it.)

And then things got a little more interesting. It was 1981. What did we know? We didn’t even have the right name for it. We were the “Top 5% Club” and we called it a “Demi-Triathlon”. Today it would be called an Ironman 70.3.  We trained day after day for three months and near the end of the training, that CCM 10 speed was out of gas. But Eli Zev came though. He had recently bought a brand new 10 speed from Canadian Tire and that was going to be my ride (Bike  3a). It was a beauty. And in the 1981 world of “what did we know”, I bought an army surplus carry bag of some sort and taped it to the handlebars. It got me through admirably. Thank you again, Eli Zev.

After that experience, bike four was my first real road bike. It was a grey Peugeot with orange lettering, The gears worked, the breaks had duel handlebar levers and there was even a water bottle holder on the frame. How about that. I also purchased what were then state of the art leather cycling shoes with a cleat on the bottom and installed “rat traps” on the pedals, which were always coming loose. I do remember practicing for hours in the basement how to get my feet in and out of these things without causing a big mess for me and others on the road. I rode the Peugeot through my university years and briefly thereafter. I think the highlight was a day trip with the Windsor Bicycle Club across the Ambassador Bridge and then east to Belle Island and back then to Windsor. It was never very far, and of course, it did not have a Garmin on the handlebars. Somewhere along the way, the Peugeot found its way into the back shed and then unceremoniously sold at a garage sale. I went bikeless for a number of years thereafter.

Bike five, when the kids were pretty young, was a rather heavy green Trek hybrid. I still have that one. I learned out how to use clipless pedals and I fitted the bike with paniers to carry kid stuff as well as a bottle of wine. It was and continues to be a great bike for in the City and rougher terrain such as rail trails.

And then, N+1 kicked in. After a few years, the Trek was followed by a Pinerello cross bike (number six) , with two sets of wheels, one fat for gravel and one thinner for roads. I used this bike during the first of my many  Ride to Conquer Cancer two day charity bike rides. I still have this one too, and it is great for “City Rides” including the super ravine system that Toronto offers. The Pinerello cross was followed by a Pinerello road bike (number seven) , which after transfer to the Marseille Office, was stolen out of our garage. This was followed by a black BMC road bike (number eight) for Toronto was later also transferred to the Marseille Office, where it continues to be used. The BMC has the company of a very heavy Btwin Rockrider mountain bike (number nine) which survived a crash with a concrete road barrier better than my collarbone did. I use it for some modest riding (fire roads mostly) in and near Marseille as well as summer transport down to the Sea and back for early morning swims. The most current bike (Number 10) is a yellow Basso that is in Toronto. It travelled to Israel with me a few years ago for a Beit Halochem charity bike ride with injured soldiers.

The Boy asked me a few weeks ago if I have a favourite bike. Truth is, not really. Like the old saying about cameras (the best camera you have is the one you have with  you) so too is my feeling about bikes. My body feels the difference for about five minutes when changing from one bike to another as it adjusts, but that is about it. Each bike though has been a part of me through various chapters of my life and I look back at them (both the chapters and the bikes) fondly. Maybe there will be a bike 11  in my future, and if there is, there is a good chance that it will be an e-bike of some sort. I am pretty sure though that I will not feel the emotional attachment to take it to bed with me like bike one.