Recently, I sent a bike of mine off to the hospital to be parted out. Last week after our morning ride to coffee, we ran into  saw a coffee buddy of ours who said he had an old mountain bike that he wanted to give away. Specifically, he wanted to give it to us because he said “You guys will know what to do with it.”

Who, us? How did he know? And how did he know that we had just freed up some space in the dining room bike shop so we could accomodate one more steed?

Felkerino asked him what kind of bike it was and our friend said, “Oh, it’s an old Bridgestone mountain bike.” Hmmm. That piqued our interest, but we tried not to give it too much thought.

When we picked up the bike, we discovered it was a 1992 Bridgestone MB-4 in pearl white. It was kept in a loving home and does not appear to have many miles on it. Most of the parts, which include a lovely Sugino crank and Shimano Deore gearing, are original.

We were so excited about my  Felkerino’s  our new bike, that we immediately pumped up the tires and took turns spinning gleefully around the parking lot. While the MB-4 is not among the most prized of the Bridgestone models, the pearl white frame is pretty and the ride feels good.

Plus, it was really cool that our coffee connection thought of giving this bike to us. Sometimes serendipitous things like that happen and those are fun moments to treasure.

After treasuring the serendipity, I started eyeing Felkerino suspiciously. “He doesn’t really need that bike. I need that bike.” I knew he was thinking the same thing about me. Don’t ask me how. I just knew.

During our series of parking lot test rides, I thought one of us might try to make a break for it and just ride off victoriously into the sunset. Ultimately, though, we got all the excitement out of our system and realized that:

1. We live together and there is really nowhere to escape to;
2. We both have enough bikes (well, that’s what I told Felkerino, anyway); and
3. It was generosity and good luck that got us this bike in the first place.

We decided the Bridgestone is something we can share. Our measurements are fairly similar as is our enthusiasm for the bike.

Sigh. Do you know anyone who likes sharing? I might need some pointers. I’ll let you know how it goes. 🙂