Karen writes: The end of the White Scott

I cried today.  It was over something that some would consider silly, but I still cried. It wasn't a death in the family or anything really, really important in the scheme of things, but today my old Scott bike was declared unfit for use, so I cried.  My reaction was not too surprising really, I struggle to get rid of an old pair of running shoes or favourite shorts, how could I not grieve for my faithful two wheeled companion of some years and many miles.

Rewind to this morning.  I packed the Scott into the back of the small car, I was getting better at whipping the front wheel off and then putting it back on without looking like I was trying to wrestle a metallic monster into submission.  Got to the Avanti shop, wheel back on, she trundled perkily into the workshop, and I left for work wondering what the cost was going to be. Likely a new chain because I hadn't had one of those for ages, possibly some bearings to be greased and tightened, possibly something else as the mechanics nearly always find something when I bring her in for an infrequent service.

It was late afternoon when I got the call, I looked at the phone, yes, bike shop, the Scott must be ready. I've got bad news says the mechanic, your bike cant be fixed, it has cracks in the frame.  Can it be welded?  No, but we have more bikes. Oh.

The Scott Speedster at IM 2013
What a sad end for my poor, if sometimes crotchety old friend.  I thought about those thousands of kilometers and hundreds of hours every year and how I would now never actually ride her again.  I thought about how I wouldn't be leaving her in the Ironman line-up this year even though she has worked so hard to get me to the start-line...again.  I wont be giving her a friendly pat to say thanks and I wont feel perversely proud of her scruffy aging countenance snuggled in among all of the shiny newer versions.  I thought about how I wouldnt share uphill joy or downhill terror with her again, never get her chain grease on my clothes (I suspected she did it on purpose), never run her wheels over a dead possum, battle cows on a country road or gripe about the racket as I cajoled compliance out of her creaky gears.  I would never have the opportunity to make up for leaving her dirty and covered in spider-webs in the shed in the off season. The old Scott is gone. RIP white Scott.

Actually, I thought she would come to grief ultimately through neglect, when everything just wore out through lack of cleaning, lubricating and replacing of essential bits. This was not to be, it turns out this would have happened even if I had been obsessive about the maintenance, this was metal fatigue of the frame and I couldn't influence that. I should just thank my lucky stars she didn't come apart on one of my long rides in recent times.  I complained to the men in the workshop that I had thought she would last longer but they seemed to think that she had done quite well considering how much work she had done over the years.

But HELP, apart from an attack of sentimental angst, I have Ironman in 4 weeks and NO BIKE!   And I have a 160km ride this weekend, the longest ride in the training programme, it cant be done any later and I cant miss it!

Too late for Trademe, so I chased the moths off the credit card and looked at some bikes in the Avanti Plus shop.  How about a time-trial bike, that's what the triathletes use? Nope, I'm not going to be in permanent aero position, I'd look like someone trying to dawdle in a Ferrari, not going to happen.  I looked at the on-special updated version of my Scott, um nope, couldn't afford that.  I looked at the cheaper versions, still more than I wanted to spend, and did I really want a quality downgrade?  I remembered that Kate had said there was an outlet shop in Manukau.  I loaded what was left of my poor bike into the car again.

Well, I walked into the shop and after a bit of explanation they couldn't have been nicer. They pulled the bits of my old  bike out of my car, the tape measure came out, a bit of uhming and ahhing and I got shown a few nice looking bikes, nope don't want those, did they have a Scott?   Yes, but not my size, they would have to get one in. Then an AHA moment, look at this 2012 bike, carbon fiber, it features this, that, and something else.  It started off at this price, it's on sale at This price, but you can have it for THIS price.  Gulp.  It was just outside my hastily considered budget.  Can it be ready tomorrow?  Yes, they said, leave your old bike, we will transfer everything across (including pink bell), you can come for a fitting tomorrow morning.

So tomorrow I will have a new bike.  A new Scott.  Really, an actual new one, not a new-to-me second (third) hand one. And this one...this one is red.

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