The Perfect Holiday Bike

I haven't been riding the mountain bike as much as would like to recently but I have come to the realization that it is perfect for this time of year. It is no secret that the cooler weather makes a lot of people trade in their skinny road tires for some knobbies but the 1x1 goes further than most bikes when it comes to celebrating the season. Here are a few things that make it perfect for this time of year.

Halloween - It is pretty obvious how my mountain bike relates to Halloween. Much like the traditional Halloween pumpkin, Mikey has a lot of orange. I also dress up in a costume when I go out riding, usually in assorted pieces of spandex and tight fitting clothes. The only time you ever see someone else dressed like this is on Oct. 31. On a night dedicated to frightening others, Mikey and I excel. Seeing 215 lbs of awkwardness rounding a corner on a ninja turtle bike like mine will frighten a lot more people than some cheap mask.

Christmas - Mikey's other featured color is green. No color symbolizes Christmas better than green. Green is everywhere around Christmas time in the form of trees, wreaths, garland, and tacky sweaters. While these are traditional symbols of Christmas, the most common sign of green around the holidays is the flow of green from your wallet to the sweatshop lucky enough to have this years must-have trash. This bike was also my first big purchase after graduation which is a constant reminder of the real reason for the season, capitalism.

Thanksgiving - While it is widely accepted that steel is real, it is not light. Neither or Americans at Thanksgiving (or any other time). Also, with daylights savings time over the bikes spend pretty much every weekday perfecting another one of Thanksgiving's past times, laying around and doing nothing. While weekend warriors everywhere head inside until the spring and start packing on the winter weight, Mikey is relaxing by letting that lube dry up and the tires deflate.

New Years - Since I first started riding it has been a new bike for each new year. Maybe Mikey will be the first to make it a full year without exploding. While everyone else is counting down for the ball to drop, I am counting down the days until bearings seize, spokes break, and frames crack. Maybe next year I will get a 29er to break.