Sharing Interests

Last night Kelly bought herself a mountain bike. The last bicycle Kelly had was a Huffy. It is possible she was ten at that time. Having never really bought something like this before, Kelly didn't know what she was looking for. She was a little out of her element. I went through this whole process last year so we made a plan and went out together. We hit a couple different bike stores and she rode a few different models around the parking lots. We also learned that just because a bike is more expensive and has pricier components, doesn't mean that you're going to be comfortable on it. It's better to have a bike that's strong and you feel confident riding. We settled on a Specialized. It's the same frame as mine and I know it can take a lot of abuse. Just as important is that Kelly really liked the feel of it. She will be able to attack harder trails on this bike than she would be able to handle with one that she's not as comfortable on. The big differences between her's and mine is that Kelly's bike has 24 speeds, mine has one. But Specialized took that extra money saved by not having gears, derailers, etc and put it into fancy components like disk brakes, stronger wheels, better shocks, and so on. Downside for me is that I have to walk up the big hills while Kelly can stay on her bike.

We'll be going out somewhere this weekend for a ride. Nothing too challenging at first, just some easy dirt or gravel tracks, maybe a jogging trail. Kelly and I have always had very different interests. This always serves to keep things interesting because one of us will usually come up with an idea that the other hadn't thought of. But it also makes it tough for us to find an activity (other than wine tastings) that we both want to do. But going on bike rides is something everyone likes so I'm pretty excited that we can start enjoying that together.

A little off topic here, it's almost time I bought a new phone. My Nokia POS just isn't cutting the mustard anymore.