By Scott
Sometimes the objects we own become more than just things. Bikes aren't just tools or a device, but for a lot of us, a source of joy and pride. When my wife bought a Pass Hunter frame this spring, she named the bike Diana, after the Roman goddess of the hunt.
It makes it easy when she has names for bikes. When we are getting ready for a ride, she can say that she is taking Diana or Mari (her other road bike) out and I know which to prep and ensure it is ready for the ride.
Back when I worked for GU in 2007/2008, I rode my touring/brevet/sportif/only bike to work most days. My boss there had a very nice Lightspeed road bike. He would refer to my bike as "the truck". With fenders, racks and lights on it, it was certainly more "truckish" then his svelte road bike. I went out for a staff lunch ride one day, and my bike certainly felt more of a truck than either of their two lightweight road bikes over the Berkeley hills.
I started calling it The Truck after that. Eventually I got a lighter road bike to ride and that bike became "The Jag" - lighter, smoother, and more reliable than the car.
So here's the question - do you name your bike and what sort of convention do you use?
Ps. If you're interested in the complete build list of Melissa's Pass Hunter, you can find it here: https://velo-orange.com/pages/pass-hunter-build-list-sportif-with-whisky-carbon-fork
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6 comments:
I have so many creative names for mine!
The folding one.
The green bike.
The fat bike.
I'm with Andy. I have a red folder, green folder, the Riv, the white Peugeot, the Blue Peugeot, and my mountain bike.
Sheesh, those others have no imagination. ;-)
I'm looking at Pretty Purple Princess Penelope (aka the Princess, a '92 RockHopper transmorgrified into a sturdy steel street steed); my off-road ride, Zoe (Washburn, a terrifyingly competent and badass woman on an old TV show called Firefly, as well as a '95 Trek Singletrack) is in the garage with my modern hybrid River (Song or Tam, badass with a touch of crazy), who's going to be rehomed soon. My previous bike was Darthie (it was a black KHS road bike from back in the day; Darth Vader, but little and adorable). I may be a nerd. XD
PS Diana is gorgeous!
My green Nature Boy tracklocross/basket commuter is named Penny, and I haven't settled on a final name for my Pass Hunter just yet, but I'm thinking either Luna or Bumblebee.
Nelllie Bell, a completely unremarkable Fuji Crosstown Hybrid that nevertheless did a century as well as the GAP and C&O Canal trails from Pittsburgh to Washington DC, earned her name by being plain. Her one spot of glory was her pink bike bell (with stars!) Being single and female, on many a large group ride, a gent or two would approach me looking for something techie on my bike on which to make an insightful comment as a conversation starter. On Nellie, they found nothing so would resort at last to saying, “nice bell.” Seriously, this happened several times so I called her Nellie Bell. It got so that when i went to pick her up at the bike shop after a tune up or repair, the owner would call back, “Is Nellie ready? Her mom’s here.” Nellie is gone now, Went down to Nashville to pursue a career in music, but before she left, she was joined by her sisters, Jazmin, my first road bike (aluminum) b/c she was so sleek and pretty compared to Nellie, Josephine, full name, the Empress Josephine, b/c she is my carbon fiber dream and rules the roost, and then briefly Jezabel, sort of a cross between my Nellie and Jazmin that lived in another state to keep me company when I went to visit.
Veronica is my Polyvalent Mk. 4, and she is my Forever Bike. We commute, tour, camp, and sometimes just ramble, together. Sally is a Centurion Le Mans mixte that I converted to 650b. Jayne is a mullet drive mountain bike.
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