A new bike for the Meatball!

Just a quick post for an early Saturday evening because I got another new toy thanks to Craigslist yet again. I am always surfing through Craiglist looking for things, selling things and just browsing in general and this morning Wify asked me to post some books on there in the free section and when I was done I started looking around. Of course I go straight to the bikes and at the very top of the list is a freshly placed ad for a Specialized Hardrock, click, load and I fired off a quick email to the owner and was in the car 20 minutes later on my way to take a look. I am not sure what year the bike is but my best guess so far is early 90's perhaps late 80's but that's to be found out still as I haven't done a lot of research just yet. Bikes are quickly becoming an addiction....er hobby for me as I am finding out that I enjoy finding great old bikes for little to no money and cleaning them up and riding them again makes the riding them that much more fun. The ad for this bike said that it was "rarely ridden" and after seeing it I completely believe it! have a look at my new toy.

You can see form these pictures that the condition is very good besides the dry rotted tires which are original to the bike, the images above are literally 5 minutes after I took it off of the bike rack on my car and is exactly how I got it. This is the second older Specialized mountain bike that I got from Craigslist this year, the first one was a 1988 Rockhopper that I did some work on and posted some pictures up Here and now this one is in line for the treatment. I have to say that before I changed the way that I eat and move this hobby wouldn't have been an option for me, I mean, I could have gotten the bikes and fixed them up but for who? where is the fun in doing something like this if I don't get to reap the benefits right? Two and a half years ago I literally thought to myself "who the hell would want to go for a walk just to go for a walk?" along with "why would anyone want to ride a bike when a car is so convenient?" and that was the bitter fat guys thoughts because now I want to bike everywhere!

I currently have four bikes where as I said not so long ago I wondered why anyone would enjoy riding a bike, I have ridden a bike more in the last year than in the last 20 years combined and am sorry that I ever stopped. My life has completely changed for the better on so many levels when I decided to do something about the weight that was holding me back and as I sit here typing this I know that I will be around a lot longer because of that choice. Eating better, moving more and finding healthy hobbies and interests to keep us busy may likely be the key to a long healthy and happy life, you can ask me in 40 years if I was right, that old heavier me would surely not be around that much longer but this version of myself is planning to surpass that time.

That's all I got for today, keep on keepin on.

As Ever
Me