Smurfette's New Home & More Tweed Ride

Posted on 5 May 2009 | By Dottie |10 Comments

Melissa first met Smurfette, my late ’70’s Bridgestone Kabuki, last month on a rainy thrift store adventure. They got along really well and I decided that it was meant to be. I bought Smurfette on a whim, but had to face the fact that she is too small for me. Melissa bought a Wal-Mart bike last year, but it soon broke down. Now Melissa and Smurfette will be free to explore the roads and paths of suburban Aurora, IL together. Melissa is proving to be a natural city cyclist. We rode five miles to Union Station downtown, and then Melissa took the Metra train back to Aurora with her new old bike.

Saying Goodbye at Union Station

In her own words:

I wandered around by the train station for a bit trying to figure out what I was doing. Finally, I noticed that the path by the river was across the street. So I fumbled a bit by the light and went to take off, then realized I kicked the chain off! Doh! But I remembered from childhood to just put 1-2 links on and then turn the wheel and it’ll pop on. So I did. But I had black hands. I didn’t have anything to wipe my hands with so I rode home w/black hands. Ugh. However, the ride was cool. I just went straight down one road. I EVEN stayed off the sidewalk!

I did ride my bike to the trail and ran 8 miles and then rode her back. I locked Smurfette up to a tree but my whole run I was worried that she’d be stolen. She wasn’t. And the bike ride back was a little brutal but I just took it slow. It’s funny cause I felt like it was taking so long, but it took about 10-15 minutes. Which is close to the same amount of time it would’ve taken to drive, with the silly lights.

Melissa and Smurfette

Melissa is moving to a new apartment closer to work at the end of the month and is going to start bike commuting. So this blog has not seen the last of her and Smurfette! (Hopefully this does not mean that I have to start training for half marathons for reciprocity.)

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On an unrelated note, I’ve decided that I should have been born in the era of floppy hats (of course, becoming a lawyer as a woman may have been a bit of a challenge back then – details, details).

I wish the world were in sepia

Many more great pictures of Chicago’s Tweed Ride can be found:

Here.
Here.
Here.
And here.

Related posts:

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2. Chicago's Tweed Ride (& My Crash) On Saturday, the inaugural Chicago Tweed Ride took place. London...
3. Chicago's Bike to Work Week – June 13-19 Around here every week is bike-to-work week, but Chicago’s official...
4. Another side of biking safety Chicago is a big city, which presents some unique challenges...
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Comments

10 Comments

• jj says:

  5 May 2009 at 10:17 am

  i think you should just wear the floppy hats anyway ‘cos yes, you look wonderful in them! do your part to bring ‘em back in style!

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• Melissa Hope S says:

  5 May 2009 at 10:28 am

  I love smurfette! Can’t wait to commute with her! It’ll be more fun than with Gia (my car).

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• Nico says:

  5 May 2009 at 11:01 am

  Nice bike, Melissa! Now sell your car.

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• MamaVee says:

  5 May 2009 at 11:32 am

  great hat!!!

  Reply to this Comment
• sara says:

  5 May 2009 at 11:44 am

  So glad that Smurfette has found a lovely new home. I enjoyed looking at all the Tweed Ride photos– saw lots from San Fran’s, now yours. No Tweed Ride here (yet) and I don’t own one piece of tweed, but boy, do I love looking at all those dapper folks on bikes!

  Reply to this Comment
• spiderleggreen says:

  5 May 2009 at 12:29 pm

  I thought your stable was getting kind of full with Oma and Betty too. Nice to see Smurfette going to a loving owner, who will ride her often. Bringing some style to the Burbs!

  Reply to this Comment
• Trisha says:

  5 May 2009 at 1:54 pm

  Congrats Melissa and Smurfette! They look so happy together.

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• 2whls3spds says:

  5 May 2009 at 4:39 pm

  Love the hats…my bride loves hats too, no not ball caps, HATS! I am all for them, especially if worn while riding a bike!

  Aaron

  Reply to this Comment
• Carolyn says:

  5 May 2009 at 6:16 pm

  Great you found a good home for Smurfette. Going to miss her, but she’ll be happy.

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• Melissa’s Report from the Newbie Trenches « Let’s Go Ride a Bike says:

  9 June 2009 at 9:44 pm

  [...] were and all I had to do was go over and down on a bike path.  After I gave Melissa custody of Smurfette last month, she planned to start bike commuting when she moved to a new apartment closer to work in [...]

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