Even Better Than A Rockette

This morning, I had to go to my doctor's office in Chelsea for a blood sample.  Along the way, I saw this bike parked outside Radio City Music Hall:

Yes, it's a Mercian Vincitore.  Check out the head lugs:

OK, so the pants band blocks the lower head lug.  But what you see on the top lug is a fine example of Mercian's work.


The color is an indigo-ish purple.  The seat tube and head panels are a kind of light beige, with a tint of yellow. The owner/rider, it seems, decided to highlight the yellow  with the rims, pedals and handlebar tape.  While I'm not crazy about the "hipster fixie" touches,  I do like the overall look of the bike.  Plus, it's a Mercian, which by itself makes the bike interesting.

Cinco de Mayo Bike Jam

In my time, I've cycled on pretty much every holiday you can think of, including ones I never celebrated.  For that matter, I've probably cycled on holidays without even knowing it.

I'd guess that, in most years, I've ridden on Cinco de Mayo, whether it was a weekend day ride or simply a commute to work, as I did today.  But I never did a ride like this:

I suppose that's about as appropriate a ride as any for this fete.  This ride was scheduled for today in--where else?--Texas.  It was in Austin, to be precise.  If I'm not mistaken, that's Lance Armstrong's hometown.


I wonder whether he ever did a ride like that.  BMX is one of the few kinds of riding I've never done, mainly because I was a bit old for it by the time it came along.  That, and bicycle polo.  But who'd play a game of bicycle polo on Cinco de Mayo?   I would, just because "bicycle polo on Cinco de Mayo" has a nice ring to it, verdad?  (I couldn't type an upside-down question mark before "verdad.")  


Anyway...Did you do a ride to commemorate this day?  Or did you just do a ride and eat Mexican food afterward?  Actually, that's what I did.  And I washed it down with a "virgin" margarita. That's how I reward myself for doing something I enjoy.  Es una buena vida, verdad?

A Bike I'll Own For Two Weeks

I wasn't going to mention this.  But if you've been following this blogs, you're probably curious about the bikes that come my way.

Here's something I bought--albeit very cheaply--on impulse:

It's a Bridgestone MB-6 from, what I can tell, 1994.  That would make it one of the last Bridgestones to be imported to this country.  In the mid-1990's, the dollar lost a lot of value against the yen, which caused Bridgestone, along with Japanese bike makers,to cease their operations in the US.

I debated whether to keep it or sell it.  If I were to do the latter, I could almost certainly make a decent profit, given how little I paid for the bike and the fact that some cyclists and collectors seek out Bridgestones.  Plus, the bike is in excellent condition.  I don't think it was ridden much.  Or, it may have been ridden a lot for a season or two, then stored.    From what I can see, all of the equipment is original.  And there are a couple of large scratches, but the paint is in excellent condition overall.  It's a dark metallic blue with a slight tinge of purple--something like the color of the Velo Orange mixte frame.

After some careful consideration--keep or sell--I decided to do...neither.  No, I'm not being indecisive again.  Rather, I decided to take a third course of action.  

Some of you may have already figured out what I'm doing:  I'm donating the bike. In a previous post,  I mentioned a program in Westchester County that helps immigrants.  They actually have a bicycle workshop where they repair and refurbish donated bicycles that are given to the immigrants, mainly young men, who use them for transportation.

Actually, as I understand, the bikes are used as rewards for completing other tasks and taking English classes.  That made the idea of donating this Bridgestone even more appealing:  Whoever ends up with it will be getting a really good bike, but will have merited it in some way. So, I hope, that person will appreciate it.

I mean, I feel better about donating something I might have used myself.  Better yet, it's a bike I might have--say, when I first started riding off-road--bought with money I earned.  So I don't feel like I'm merely "getting rid" of the bike. 

On Tuesday, I'm going to bring it to work, where my co-worker who volunteers with the program will pick it up and give me a receipt.