Unexpected things that are very hard to get
We all heard about toilet paper, then puzzles, and then chess boards had a resurgence this fall with the popularity of the Queen’s Gambit (I admit I haven’t started it yet!) I like to keep an eye out for things that are perhaps unexpectedly thriving during this time. Bikes are a big one--new bikes, used bikes, bike parts, cycling clothing, the list goes on.
Pre-pandemic and pre-kids, I was a newly avid cyclist. I commuted via bike to my office downtown, joined friends for “donut and coffee shop rides” (my love language), and competed in cyclocross races. I upgraded from a too-small Windsor Willow purchased on craigslist after getting a taste of road bikes training for and completing a sprint triathlon in 2012. Fast forward to 2015 when I met Tyler and it only took a few months to get hooked. I got my first cross bike in February 2016, which Velo Bike Shop sweetly helped me source from Raleigh, then a used road bike and another beautiful red, white and blue Focus cross bike both from the same guy. I still remember meeting him on a rainy night at the Whole Foods in Interbay to acquire the road bike, then we later became better acquainted and when he posted the cross bike on Instagram, I sent a screenshot to Tyler, who surprised me with it on Christmas morning.
Our last big adventure trip before the boys were born was to Moab in 2018 for dear friends’ wedding (really more of a mountain biking, hiking and canyoning rally) than a wedding per se, and I got the mountain biking bug in a big way there. Which brings us to this year, when we took the plunge and ordered a Santa Cruz Tallboy back in July. The Santa Cruz production line was inundated with demand or backed up with the pandemic, or both, and I didn’t get the bike until November!
Tyler’s been selling bikes and parts for almost what he paid for them…another cottage industry in our basement along with my real estate biz. I’ve only been out riding a couple times so far but mountain biking is a relatively safe activity to do during the pandemic - outdoors and at a distance - and I’m grateful to have my own bike after a couple years of borrowing from friends.
