caged

right through that wire cage is a blue sky. a sunny day. a green vista. a welcome pasture of soft, living earth in the midst of a still wintering forest. perhaps it was foreshadowing the drama that would unfold in my pursuit of bicycles for the family.

todd's came first. a neighbor offered one for a deal. barely used. totally adequate. just barely his size, with lots of room to accommodate his impending growth spurts. i thought, 'wow, that was easy... now for two more.'

one fruitless chase after another on craigslist and a couple days of exploring every metro bike shop and i was quite discouraged. i turned to ebay, somewhat cautious, but also somewhat desperate. i found a great deal. watched it several days. won it in the last few seconds. the seller had 99 point something percent positive feedback. it was scheduled to arrive on monday by ups.

on monday, on the way back from camping, we stopped at a bike shop in the outskirts of atlanta and haley purchased the bike she'd made a deal on. in the interest of getting it home in my car and the vision we both had for a week of mountain biking, i purchased a car bike rack. it would only hold three bikes - but it was the biggest they had in stock. the guy promised to order a four bike rack and let me know when it was in. i planned to exchange the three for the four.

then we hurried to my house to unwrap the bike delivered by ups. (you can probably imagine where this story is going.) it was there. as promised.

except, not quite as promised. it needed some assembly, which i expected, but was missing a few essential assembly items (such as screws), which i did not expect. the brakes were in pieces in the bottom of the box and the bike was covered in mud and heavily worn. a far cry from the description and the pictures - which i suspect were manufacturer's pics of this bike, when new. (incidentally, the ebay listing assured buyers that they were 'actual pictures' of the bike up for bid.)

argh.
talked to a bike shop. estimate to put bike in working order was $100-$150.
suddenly it's not such a great deal.

so of course, i contact the seller to return it. they will happily take it back. and all i'll be out is the return shipping. personally i don't think i should be out anything, but ebay and the seller don't see it my way.

argh.

meanwhile, the four bike rack comes in and i drive up to flowery branch to make the exchange. only to find out that it won't fit on my car. oh - i forgot to mention, the three bike rack that i originally purchased won't actually hold three bikes safely - and without a supply of straps and bungee cords, won't even hold a single bike. (no, it did not come with these straps.) so, here i am on my second bike rack that won't work. and out the return shipping for the ebay bike.

i talk to the owner of the bike shop about ordering yet another bike rack. at this point i'd prefer to simply take my refund and find another source. but as luck would have it, the shop return policy is for store credit only.

argh.

he orders me the 'bike rack that will fit every car' and says, 'if this one won't work, nothing will.' incidentally, it's for three bikes only because there isn't a trunk mounted four bike rack that's decent and my car can't accommodate a receiver hitch. i said, 'before you order that (very expensive) rack, please ask your representative if it will fit my car.' he wrote down my car model and year and my phone number, promising to call when it arrived.

at this point i've purchased myself a brand new bike, from another suburban bike shop, and been combing craigslist (giving it another shot) for luke. i still have no way of transporting even one bike, let alone two or three. (and never mind four.)

i expected the new bike rack to arrive yesterday, but didn't hear from the shop. today on the way to the gym i pulled up the manufacturer's website to show haley the rack and noticed a 'fit calculator'. i entered in my vehicle details and pushed 'show me racks that fit'.

umm. five racks popped up. two of which were for three bikes.
but not the rack i'm expecting.

so, i phoned the bike shop. the owner had assured me he'd check before ordering, so either he didn't or he didn't order. and either way, why hadn't i heard from him? the guy there today relays that yes the rack was ordered. and apparently no, the owner hadn't checked on fit. and then 'if that one won't work, nothing will.'

not true. in fact, there are several that will fit according to this same manufacturer and if they'd bothered to check, they'd know.

argh

still out the return shipping on ebay bike. now out the original cost of the three bike rack - seeing as i haven't found another rack to apply the credit towards - and as of yet no promise of a refund...enter luke's bike.

last night i stumbled across a promising listing on craigslist. a middle aged hippie that repairs bikes and restores vw vans had about five bikes listed for sale. two of which were mountain bikes in luke's size and pretty much what i wanted to pay, provided they were in good working order.

so, today we made the hour long drive to the other side of the city to investigate and subsequently purchase one of these bikes. it's the first time in two months (or more?) that i've been so overcome with sleepiness that i had to stop the car and close my eyes. none of my mental gymnastics could wake me up. (a nap and fully caffeinated coffee did help though. amazing what caffeine will do to you when you've been off it for so long.)

the bikes weren't great, i'll admit. but they were decent. luke rode two and chose one. it seemed to work fine. shifted and braked. adjusted to his height. all systems go. i paid and we put it in the back of haley's truck, seeing as a bike rack for my car is more rare than halley's comet.

we get home and luke jumps on his bike for a ride around the neighborhood. after about ten minutes todd says, 'where do you think luke is? he's been gone a long time.' glance down the road and see him pushing the bike. somehow the chain is majorly derailed and despite my best efforts i can't get it back together.

doing the math: ebay bike, bike rack, luke's bike. what next?

for what it's worth, the hippie is going to fix luke's bike tomorrow. and i plan to lay into the owner of the bike rack bike shop at my first opportunity. and as for mr. ebay... well, i won't be doing business with him anymore. and if my feedback has anything to do with it, nobody else will be either.

so, yes.. there right outside the wire cage i know is a sunny sky. a trail waiting to be explored. a breeze. an oasis.

if i can just get out of this damn cage.

d: four bikes that work and a way to transport them. or at least three of them.
b: umm.
g: getting closer. getting closer. i think.