Posted: 7/30/2006 4:25:26 PM EDT
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So there I was about a month ago making fun of my wife for entering us in yet another sweepstakes/contest giveaway that is never gonna happen. My wifes favorite phrase is "If we could only win the lottery..." I tend to be the kind of person who points out what could be bought with all that money spent on the lottery. But last month it was FREE BICYCLES. You had to write an essay on why a new bicycle would change your life...blah, blah, blah and you could win a FREE BICYCLE. As there was no entry fee and would only cost a stamp I didn't stop her from entering both of us, though I was annoyed she used my business email for the entry (gonna get more SPAM I just know it). Anyway last week we get the "You Just Won!" email. Now I have gotten these before and I make a point of telling my wife she cannot have any money to get our FREE PRIZES nor may she provide anyone with credit card numbers, banks accounts, social security numbers, etc. to claim, hold or reserve our FREE PRIZE. Sadly these are things I actually have to tell my wife or all of our money would currently be in Nigeria (she really did feel bad about that poor Nigerian Prince.) So my wife faxes over the confirmation forms (from her office so my business fax doesn't get spammed) and she gets pickup locations and pick up numbers. I remain skeptical. So on Friday she calls the bicycle shop to get their hours of operation, find out what they need from us and to confirm our bikes our there. To my surprise they confirm everything and say they only need the confirmation forms and numbers. So we drive down there Saturday and pick up these. Did I mention we both won?  A pair of Giant Cypress EX 7 speeds which seem to have a going rate of about $575 each. Certainly not a bike "I" would pick or buy (I prefer more of a classic tour style) and only available in brown and tan (again not the colors I would choose) but they were actually FREE. Didn't pay "taxes" one the items, didn't have to make a "qualifying purchase" or any of the other ways "giveaways" classically shake you down. And we also got FREE Bell helmets and Kryptonite locks. In fact the ONLY downside of the whole thing is after doing the bike path around the air park my ass is really killing me. It's been about 10 years since I've been on a bike and man I can tell. It's been over 20 years since I got my first real 10 speed and I can immediately recall the pain of breaking my ass in on that one all those years ago in High School. When I finally get moved and situated I will still probably replace it with something more to my liking. But for now...it's not too bad for free. |
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Update: These "free bikes" are costing me. Been out everynight doing the track around the air park and it's kicking my ass. Besides the physical of breaking in my ass on the seat my legs are jello. Gonna try and do it every weekday after dinner. I'm just not sure I can make it two more nights.  On the plus side, got home tonight and just soaked for an hour in the pool with the wife. Nothing like a warm pool at night under the stars. |
Still doing the holster under the vest thing. Went with a shoulder rig tonight but it wasn't much better. Then it occured to me that I can do the fanny pack holster and strap it to the frame under the handle bars. I'm gonna try that tommarow. |
