I joke that it all started with a bike chain. My chain was due for replacement. I got a bike strand for Christmas. I change the chain myself. But it doesn’t sound right. So I go to the bike shop. Turns out I need a new rear cassette. I buy a new rear cassette. WHile putting on the rear cassette the mechanic notices my discs are shot. So I replace my rotors and pads. While buying rotors and pads I talk to the checkout guy about how I want to get a power meter. He looks up options. Turns out the current market of power meters are not backwards compatible enough to go as old as my white bike. I’d have to replace the whole drivetrain to do that. A brand new bike would be cheaper. So, here I am. I start out with a chain and end up with a 2020 Specialized Roubaix Sport!

This is notably the most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done. I don’t spend money easily. Buying a vanerhome felt spontaneous. It was spontaneous in that I decided which one overnight. But I’d been thinking about buy a vanerhome for 15 years before I took the plunge. This bike? It was literally all of a week from the time I installed the chain to having the new bike. I woke up Saturday morning. I decided that moment to drive down to Portland. I went to River CIty Bicycles, the shop where I bought my first Roubaix back in 2004. I took this Roubaix out on the same roads. I meanered all around the industrial areas of close-in SE. I took it on the bumpy wooden slats of the Eastbank Esplanade. It was glorious and freeing and fun. What a way to start 2020!

I feel like a mom with a new baby. I want to share all the pictures of my beautiful new baby. My baby bike!