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January 14, 2014 By Beth

Bike Love

I am elated to introduce my new/old bike:

finishedbike

Isn’t she a beauty? I am literally beside myself with excitement.

She came to me by way of my cousin Kimberly, an aspiring writer with an intriguing YA novel in the works. She spends a lot of her spare time at Renew, a consignment store in Springdale run by her church as an outreach program. It’s a thriving shop with a litany of great selections, and it opened during a time that consignment shops were really beginning to thrive in northwest Arkansas. I visited a few times last summer and provided a little bit of marketing support, and that is where I developed a crush on a powder blue bike:

image

Here she is, pre-facelift but still lovely!

I left without the bike, but Kimberly shelled out the $26 and delivered her to me a few days later after I expressed my regret. Soon, I pounced on my Dad during a vulnerable moment and begged him to restore the bike for me. During the 40s and 50s, his father had a bike shop in Galveston, Texas and later in Texarkana, where my Dad grew up. His nostalgic stories and the memories from his time in the bike shop are a story for another day. Lucky for me, he retains both enthusiasm and know-how for the intricacies of bikes, plus a little bit of spare time.  Plus, this lovely bike was only slightly rusty and dilapidated, and Dad said at heart it was a pretty nice bike (score!)… it could have been far worse!

image(7)

Just needing a little love… at Finders Keepers Fleatique in downtown Rogers

My goal for the bike was a super cute vehicle for riding around downtown Rogers on jaunts to the grocery store or farmers’ market – nothing particularly far afield. I am fortunate to have an incredible mountain bike which has accompanied me twice on our family vacations biking 125 miles of the Katy Trail in Missouri (more on that in the near future, as well: we’re planning to go again soon!) and on my itsy bitsy teensy baby triathlon adventure. However, riding that bike along with its accompanying (rather intense) helmet, bike gloves etc. around town always seems like the equivalent of wearing a parachute to jump over a log, so I was on the lookout for something sassy.  Dad was appalled when I told him my plans to deck her out:

Bike quad

Accessories from Eleanor’s NYC

However, he clearly threw up his hands and indulged me by adding a few trappings to my newly-restored bike, which he presented to me at Christmas (complete with yellow handlebar tape, an awesome bell and a basket). Dads are awesome.  Best of all, he said that it was just an absolute pleasure to work on it, and that the whole project took him back to when he was twelve years old.  They never sold a new bike from that shop – he and his Dad would disassemble bikes and painstakingly clean, repair and piece them back together.  They would paint the frames by hand, and his Dad would use a special little dart brush to paint on the stripes.

While I’m elated to have my super cute bike, his sheer enjoyment and delight in doing this for me was all that I could have hoped for in my request for his help.

BikeTri

Stop by Renew or another vintage or consignment shop to see if you can find a new/old treasure of your own… because some of the best things happen on bike rides.

bikequad2

And if you’d like to join me in unabashedly pursuing bike cuteness and perusing all the charm of reclaimed vintage bikes and velo culture, behold:

Best Sources for Bicycle Cuteness & Inspiration (note faves*):

  • Bikes & The City
  • *Bike Pretty, especially this post on Free People + Bikes
  • City Girl Rides
  • *Eleanor’s NYC
  • Girls & Bicycles
  • How To Arrive Gorgeous When You’re Biking In Winter
  • Hum of the City
  • Sweet Georgia Brown
bentonvillebike

Cute bike at the Bentonville Farmers’ Market from a 2012 post on The Food Adventuress

Northwest Arkansas Bicycle Goodness:

  • Biking in Arkansas
  • Bike Bentonville
  • The Highroller Cyclery (Fayetteville & Rogers)
  • Lewis & Clark Outfitters (Springdale & Bentonville)
  • Mojo Cycling (Bentonville)
  • Ozark Bicycle Service (Rogers)
  • Ozark Bike Shop (Rogers) – no website, just Joe + his tried and true shop! 🙂
  • Phat Tire Bike Shop
  • Northwest Arkansas Razorback Greenway Trail System
  • Slaughter Pen Hollow (Bentonville)
  • Springdale Bicycle (Springdale)

Additional resources?  Please add them in the comments, by all means – and bike on!

trike

P.S. HURRY, spring!  XO, Beth

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Bike Love, Favorite Things, The Story of Stuff

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Comments

  1. Bike Pretty (@BikePretty) says

    January 14, 2014 at 12:45 pm

    Thank you for the mention and congratulations on your new (to you) bike!
    I love the sweet story of you and your dad working on this project together. So cute.

    • Beth says

      January 14, 2014 at 2:47 pm

      Thanks for reading! I’m truly transfixed by your site – huge new fan. 🙂 Happy biking to you too! 🙂

  2. Laurie Biggs Marshall says

    January 14, 2014 at 12:47 pm

    My dad refurbed and painted bikes for my brothers and I when we were kids. Great memories. 🙂

  3. Laurie Biggs Marshall says

    January 14, 2014 at 12:47 pm

    Oh! And another NWA cyclist resource: http://www.Bbikefit.com – professional bike fitting and coaching.

    • Beth says

      January 14, 2014 at 2:45 pm

      SO glad you posted this – I was hoping you would! 🙂

  4. Kimberly Mitchell (@KSMitch17) says

    January 14, 2014 at 1:32 pm

    I love seeing how the bike turned out! Thanks for the double mention (me and Renew:) Happy Trails!

    • Beth says

      January 31, 2014 at 7:53 am

      Thanks, K! I’m always looking for biking buddies – we ought to go together if you’re up for it this year! So excited about the completion of trails for NWA. 🙂

  5. Allyson says

    January 14, 2014 at 3:41 pm

    She’s lovely! Great post, I’m in the market for a new bike, so your links will be very helpful. 🙂 xoxo

    • Beth says

      January 31, 2014 at 7:54 am

      Thanks, friend! Excited to hear that – keep me posted! Biking makes me so happy. XO!

  6. Jen Y says

    January 14, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    Have you heard of Dogwood Junction in Siloam Springs? If you haven’t made a trip to Siloam you need to check it out, rent a bike & explore. It’s a fun shop in a really great nortwest Arkansas town. Here is their website. https://dogwoodjunction.biz/

    • Beth says

      January 31, 2014 at 7:55 am

      Thank you for sharing this! I had not heard of it, and I LOVE Siloam Springs and work there frequently with a client (28 Springs)! I also have a visit to Sassafras out on Highway 412 on my list, so I’ll add Dogwood Junction to my list. Thanks for reading and sharing that tip!

  7. Aunt Gayle says

    January 14, 2014 at 6:17 pm

    Excellent! Also reminds us of your other grand dad who had 10 bikes in his shop for whenever his 10 grand kids happened to come by to visit! Very pretty (and cool) bike!

    • Beth says

      January 31, 2014 at 7:56 am

      Yes, Aunt G! I thought a lot about that and decided it was fodder for a completely separate post. I loved that shed and all the treasures in it, not least of which was the bikes. Thanks for the comment!

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