Bicycle Family: Part One

My bicycle family began very modestly but seems to keep growing and growing.  Currently, I have photos of about half of my loves, as well as those belonging to my fair Associate.  Here they are, in no particular order.

This is my triathlon bike.  Technically, it is just a LeMond road bike, but to me, it is the best tri bike on the planet...that I can afford.  I am on a quest to outfit it in as much blue as possible.  It does not have a bike name because this baby is all business. In fact, I am not even sure if it is a he or a she.  However, I am open to suggestions.

These next two awesomes are Matchy-Matchy.  The are maroon Schwinn World Tourists.  My Associate and I discovered them on Craigslist and they were a set being sold by the son of the original husband-and-wife duo who bought them new in 1984.  We believe these bicycles did a lot of sitting in the garage, waiting decades for the two of us to come along.  Note my snazzy panniers and the Associate's sweet headlight!  Everything else is all original.  Maroon is such a great 1980's color!

This next bicycle is a Phoenix belonging to my Associate.  He enjoys riding it in big, swooping circles around cul-de-sacs and the like while singing a little ditty that sounds like a circus tune.  After some discussion, I believe he named it the Grandfather.  The rod brakes scare me a little, but he tells me the secret is simply to avoid going too fast.

I bought this old mixte Motobecane a couple of years ago and my two agenda items at the time were first, to own a bike that could get beat up during my commute on the train and second, to own a bike that I could ride to work while wearing a skirt.  I wasn't in love with this bike at first and I treated it like a workhorse.  However, recently, I have begun to hatch great plans for it.  By the halfway point of 2010, this bicycle will be a lovely remodeled thing of beauty.

Lastly, of the bicycles I currently have in photo form, I present my most recent acquisition: Caliente!  I know calling the bike by its actual model name (this cutie is a 1980's Schwinn Caliente) is not the most creative idea in the world, but "caliente" is really and truly the most appropriate title for this spicy little bike.  My Associate and I went to the local bike shop so he could make a helmet exchange, and lo and behold!  Caliente was on post-holiday sale.  I had no intention whatsoever of purchasing a bicycle, but this one was too good to be true.  Caliente is new old stock; right out of the box.  Yours truly is her first and only owner!  Here she is on her inaugural ride at the San Leandro marina today.

Stay tuned for Bicycle Family: Part Two.