BLL #3: Flash the Road Bike

I love the road. Motion is where I find peace.

Connie, my owner, purchased me when she was 19 after saving up birthday money and paychecks for three years. She dreamt of owning a Trek ever since seeing Lance Armstrong riding one in the Tour de France. Buying me turned her dream into a reality.

She named me Flash for my aggressive red color and how she felt I personified speed. We’ve spent many memorable moments together: her first Seattle-to-Portland race, a long three hour ride of reflection and mourning when her grandma died, and a multitude of adventures to discover new places and challenge our limits.

I’m not just a bike, I’m an extension of Connie. When she clips her cleats into my pedals, we move as one. Together, we ride the road of life. I’ve been with her for the tragic uphill struggles of breaking up with boyfriends and failures as well as the triumphant downhill cruises where everything falls into place. I’ve accompanied her through both the long straights where the future seems so certain and the winding turns where you can’t see what’s around the corner.

The sense of accomplishment is mutual when we come home from a long and grueling ride. Pushing our limits is what keeps things interesting – it doesn’t matter how slow we go so long as we don’t stop.

Our time together hasn’t been perfect; we’ve had our fair share of falls (one was so bad she had to replace my rear derailleur). But regardless of how badly we’ve fallen, we’ve always gotten back up.

Here she is now, preparing for another ride.

“Alright Flash, today we conquer the Lake Washington Loop. Let’s show it what we’re made of!”

Connie’s go-getter attitude and fiery determination are what made her such an exciting owner. We go through our pre-ride ritual of pumping my tires, checking my brakes, and outfitting me with tools/spare tires in case of a flat. Water bottles in place, we set off.

Another adventure begins.

[about the BLL project]

Since I don’t start Accenture until September, I’ve got some free time on my hands. One of the ways I’ve decided to use this period is to exercise my creative writing with a mini-series focusing on everyday objects around us. My goal is to imagine what the things around us, such as our smartphones, would say if they could speak. Through these short stories, I’ll offer my commentary on how these objects affect our lives.

Past BLLs: