The Giant Sedona

January 2009 in New Orleans.  Like the Helmet?

I learned how to ride a bicycle at the age of 26.  (Thanks Tulane move-in day and Brad).  August 23, 2008 was the date that it all began...

One week later, Gus took me to Wal-Mart and I had an $80 mountain bike, which I jubilantly rode through the entire store, and then all of uptown New Orleans. Three months later, after riding the crap out of that bicycle, I fully realized how inefficient and poorly constructed it was. I obtained a sum of money (conference reimbursement) and rather than paying off my credit card, ran to Bicycle World of Louisiana, and bought the Sedona.  Here I am, riding around New Orleans without a helmet around when the Steelers won the Superbowl in 2009.

There was some strategy in all of this: for starters, I intentionally wanted to begin riding on a low performance bicycle, so I could appreciate a good bike.  This also gave me time to test ride lots of bicycles and save up my measly graduate student funds.   Kate and I went to every bike shop and I n00bily explained to store clerks what I was looking for.  Of all the bikes I test rode, I really felt comfortable on the Sedona.  It was so comfortable, so smooth, so effortless.

So in December of 2008, $400 later, Gus and I loaded the Sedona in the back of the truck, and I had the bike that I would ride hundreds and hundreds of miles more in a 3 year period of time than anyone should be riding a $400 hybrid bicycle.  Marla and I would go on "long" rides (12-20 miles) along the Mississippi River levee and I would ride that thing, Cathy Shaw and I would cruise across uptown on drinking adventures, and I would ride that thing and play D.J. Jubilee on my music phone. Chris C. and I would ride around Mid-City.  I would sleep on Jamie's couch and ride that bike home Uptown in the mornings after a Mid-City night.  I would ride to the grocery store, take the basket off, fill it up with produce and groceries and put it back on the bike.
Then, when I moved to Pittsburgh, I would tear up hills (I had to work up to that) on that bike.

The Sedona, primed for selling

The end of the Sedona came very recently.  Here is her selling picture, and you can see how significantly less shiny she is.  What happened? I outgrew the comfort bicycle.  With the free space, I bought a gorgeous cyclocross bike.