| Hi David,
Thank you for asking about Dad. Dad was a darling, the kind of man you love to love. He died too young, only 62.
Dad taught me many things, but this is a lesson he never meant to teach…
Dad took meticulous care of his things. He collected historical books and had each one jacketed at our local library. He never used soap in the whirlpool, believing it would wreck it. He put a tablecloth over their Amish-made dining room table, fearing that the wood would be scratched. He was gentle and careful and he tried to keep his things looking new. He always said when he retired he would buy two things: a new pickup and a new boat.
He got a ding in the prop of that new boat and agonized over it. He planned to replace the propeller so it would look new again. He hesitated to trailer the boat to my brother’s house across the state, fearing some sort of cosmetic damage would befall it. (Mom forced his hand because she wanted to take the grandkids boating.) He got his new truck but mostly drove his old one, wanting to “keep the miles off” the new one. The beautiful, expensive new truck sat, parked in the driveway.
He died suddenly, soon after retiring. The truck was the first thing we sold.
Dad taught me a lot of things, but his final, unintended lesson taught me not to sit on my treasures, but to use them and enjoy them.
Thanks again, Leah Sent from my iPhone On Aug 18, 2023, at 12:37 PM, David Jones <dajone...@gmail.com> wrote:
Well, Leah, you sure opened up a thread that everyone seems to want to weigh in on, and a thread that seems to be enjoying a longevity that few can match.
One thought I had that hasn't been covered by anyone, yet, is: "What would your father's wishes be for this bike? Which of the different actions you are considering would honor his memory to the fullest degree possible?"
My original, brief, response was to keep it home during college to protect it from being stolen. My thinking was that "it's a long life" and your son will have a better chance of staying connected to his grandfather by having decades to enjoy riding the bike. But if your father was a person who was a "pin your ears back" risk taker who approached life as if there were no guarantees of tomorrow or appreciated a certain detachment to "things," then by all means "seize the day" and send the bike with your son to college, fully recognizing the inherent risks involved and, hopefully, having made peace with the possibility of him graduating from college without the bike in his possession.
David Jones Send Grandpa's Clem!
On Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 6:29:17 PM UTC-4 Will wrote:
Oh yes.... it might help a bit if the bike didn't look so new. With a few duct tape patches that can be easily solved without hurting the frame.
On Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 5:24:24 PM UTC-5 Will wrote:
When I was in college I had a Raleigh Competition and a Raleigh RRA (French metric Raleigh bike). It was a small campus in Williamsburg, VA. I had no problems with either bike. Yes, I locked them. Yes, I didn't leave them out at night and so on, but my point is... with a good U lock and maybe some wheel theft clamps, I think you'll be fine. No one is looking for a classic steel bike these days. Now they want carbon and disc brakes. And there are plenty of those bikes to steal. I'd give him the Clem.
Will
I've been thinking about this situation a lot. (And thinking back about 20 years to my time in college.) I was from a small town, and went to a large public school. I learned a lot, and a lot of learning is through mistakes. I did lots of dumb stuff, and minus the time I went flying over the handlebars and got an ambulance ride, I was lucky to escape without life-altering implications. My grandpa died when I was in college, and I still treasure a few small items I have from him. Ultimately, things are things, but some things mean more than others. It will be up to your family to decide the best route. I'm not sure it's been mentioned before, but any thought to taking an entirely different bike first semester/first year with the plan to revisit taking the Clem second semester/sophomore year?
Good luck with your decision. Matt in STL
On Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 2:56:34 PM UTC-5 Doug H. wrote:
Great story Mackenzy! I think many of us started on BMX bikes. I was an 80s kid and the group of guys in my neighborhood all had BMX bikes. In college I rode a Trek mountain bike (low end) but also had a car so the bike was primarily for exercise. I tried single speed a few years ago and really enjoy the simplicity of it even with the limitations.Doug
On Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 3:31:13 PM UTC-4 Mackenzy Albright wrote:
Admittedly, I had almost the exact opposite issue as a college student. I grew up without cyclists in my family, and think it's so rad that there are parents like Leah to give a good starting point of living a happily car free college life.
I was messy messy messy in my hyperfocus niche interests (bikes). As an adolescent I got into bmx bikes. I had a very high end BMX I kept in my dorm room under my bunk for the first two years. I worked at a skatepark and rode with many professional friends. Eventually, a visiting friend "from the city" brought his IRO fixed gear. I was absolutely smitten. He taught me about fixed gear conversions - so I went to one on one bike studios in Minneapolis and Gene helped me pick out a beat Schwinn Letour in my size and parts I needed to convert it to fixed.
Within the next few months - I befriended a local bike shop worker who talked me into buying a 54cm Surly steam roller frame (I am 6' 2" mind you) for nearly wholesale as it'd been sitting for ever a year. My IRO friend came back and took me down the biggest hill in town (sanfrancisco style) on that brakeless steamroller. Literally probably the stupidest day of my life. We continued on a 40+K ride in the country side to a waterfall and it blew my mind. My friend with the IRO was also into racing on a geared bike - and informed me on the magic of "geared bikes"
I sold the steamroller and dropped all my savings on a Long haul Trucker. Except - except they all fit weird and I didn't like the loooong top tube after a short period. So I traded it for Cross check. I despised the cross check frame even more - but somebody offered to trade a geared Karate Monkey for my Cross check. I rode the Karate Monkey for a while, but fell back in love with single speeds, so converted it to single speed and rode that a long time. To my detriment "Ride the Divide" came out. Mark Remier's first Generation Salsa Fargo was on display - dirt and all at the premier. Within the week I rode to Angry Catfish and picked up a Fargo in my size. I loved that bike. That concluded my undergrad....I wont even start on my bikes during my "Grad school years"
I was quite..."promiscuous" in my bike building because "college" is for experimenting right? (I never drank or did drugs - most of my bike dealings were trade/second hand based being in QBP land) There was just so much to learn and try out - I couldn't get enough. There were definitely other bikes and builds in there I am forgetting like a shogun touring bike etc. and lots of BMX bikes. That was just my undergrad...20 years later. Oof - not going to think too hard about it. But the enthusiasm hasn't stopped.
I think it's super cool to have an option for such a versatile bike from the get go and supportive parents for a *much* better starting point. I absolutely believe that Leah's kid is in good hands. Who knows what'll happen, but he's got a great bike to work with and obviously a lot of love and support which is super great.
On Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 11:46:56 AM UTC-7 Joe Bernard wrote:
This is going great you guys. I think it was clear after many days and many posts that the question is "what bike?", not does the kid even want one. It'd be super if we could stick with that.
On Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 11:38:13 AM UTC-7 Patrick Moore wrote:
Sorry, I have to agree with both Johns; the question seemed to be serious and without condescension. The triple question marks indicate reserve in asking the question and not exasperation or putdown; "Perhaps you might consider ...?" John,I took the question exactly as Leah interpreted it. The triple question mark at the end of the question was pretty emphatic. Take a breath? Really man? Doug
On Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 1:57:37 PM UTC-4 John Phillips wrote:
Leah, please take a breath and count to 10.
John's question wasn't rude, and was a fair question in that the strength of his desire for a bike at college could correlate to the amount of attention he would give to keeping the bike secure.
You did ask for people's opinions, so please just ignore those you don't like.
John
On Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 2:22:12 AM UTC-7 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote:
John, Text makes it hard to tell sometimes, so I suppose I’ll ask.
1. Is your question asked because you have the perfect bike waiting for him that you would like to gift him?
2. Is your question being asked because you are genuinely confused about the topic of the conversation?
3. Or is your question posed so as to look down on me, as if I was imposing my choices on my son?
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