I prepared, in changing residences here in University Heights, to abandon my beloved, vintage Guerciotti bicycle; the roadster was a self-given birthday present, four years ago. Our new apartment has no garage and, as such, considerably less storage space.
However, because we downsized the spare bed from full to twin, and because of the better dimensions of the room replaced, place could be eked out for my classic bike. Using a stackable stand, Annie could keep her bicycle, too. But she chose to let it go.
To make space, I moved the bed closer to the cat tree and my desk, so that the Guerciotti could fit between mattress/frame and wall. I spent several days researching storage solutions, favoring floor options over thangs that hang from wall or ceiling. Most of these racks accommodate, and lock into place, the front tire/wheel. I am a sucker for simple, straightforward design. That led to two similar-looking stands: Saris “The Boss” and Bike Hand YC-109.
Both are sleek, sturdy stands that hold the bike in place by the rear axle. They’re foldable and portable, too. Bike Hand has the better reviews on Amazon, while costing less, too. But I chose the Saris for its superior aesthetic and for being American-made. The stand arrived this afternoon.
I shot the Featured Image outside our dining room window, using Leica Q, at 3:24 p.m. PDT. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/8, ISO 200, 1/60 sec, 28mm. In a future post, you will see the bike parked inside my office.
I hope to ride more often, which may be another testimony about less being more. While the garage provided convenient storage, it made using the bicycle inconvenient. We lived on the second floor over the garage, which meant grabbing the electronic door doohickey, walking down the stairs, opening the garage, unlocking the Guerciotti, wheeling it into the courtyard, trudging back up the stairs to leave the opener (in case someone else needed it), walking back down, wheeling the bike to the courtyard gate, pushing it open, continuing to the sidewalk, and finally mounting the road bike.
Now we live in a first-floor flat, and, with the current set up, my two-wheel steed is ready to grab and go. Will I really ride more frequently? I’ll confess/answer that Q in a few weeks.