BICYCLES AND FINNS

Our longtime friends from Finland have been staying with us the past two weeks. I’ll call them Ira and Patty. We’ve all been having a grand time together. Rex and I have been vacationing too. We’ve been to the Huntington Library, Fullerton Arboretum, Aquarium of the Pacific, along with countless restaurants, a night at the Fullerton Elks Lodge, and of course Thanksgiving dinner. One of the most fun expeditions was the bicycle shopping trip.

     Ira and Patty are here for almost three months. They love to hike and bicycle. It’s expensive to rent bikes for three months so they decided to buy a couple of inexpensive bikes and then sell them to us when they left.

     First stop was Jock’s bike shop in Fullerton. It soon became evident that buying a bike is quite expensive, too. Especially when you have expensive tastes like Ira does. The four of us walked around and began checking price tags. I found a nice used bike I would have immediately taken out for a test drive, but that wasn’t good enough for Ira. A salesman came over and we asked if there were any new bikes that were inexpensive. His answer, “Maybe you could look on Craigslist.” Note to salesman: That comment was a bit rude and I will never buy a bike from you. As an aside, I tried to straighten the reflector that was clamped under the bike seat on the used bike and it snapped off in my hand. Patty and I got the giggles and almost fell on the floor laughing.

     Meanwhile, Ira had migrated over to the high end bikes so the salesman trotted right over to help him. Patty and I meandered around the store. Rex was looking at the really high end bikes and noticed a $4000 bike on a rack above his head. He reached up to readjust the wheel (why I don’t know) and the bike started to fall off the rack. Thankfully, it didn’t.

     Well, this caught Ira’s attention and he came over to inspect the bike. It was a TREK with electric gear shifting. The bike of his dreams! Of course the $4000 wasn’t exactly the one he wanted. His was to be even more expensive. A plan formulated in his mind. They weighed the bike. He found out they could pack it for him when he would return to Finland and he could take it on the plane. Yay! Oops. Patty put the brakes on. The four of us left the store without bikes.

     The days went by and bike conversation increased. They went to Rex’s brother’s house to look at his mountain bike that he’d offered to lend Ira for the time he’s here. Ira’s reaction was less than favorable. Conversation continued. Ira said he was going to rent a bike when they went to Ojai. Then he said he was going to forget biking altogether and just walk. Patty could buy the cheap bike she’d seen in Seal Beach. Ira wouldn’t buy a bike. After all, he had four at home in Finland anyway. But, there was no bike in the world like the TREK!

     By now Ira had a long face and Patty was beginning to feel like the bad parent, saying no to her little boy. It was fun to watch the exchanges. Ira was working her and I could tell she was going to come around.

     One morning I asked what they were going to do for the day. Patty said, “We’re going to the Jock’s store in Huntington Beach, just to see if they have any different bikes.” They left and I told Rex, “Wait and see, they’ll be back this afternoon and both of them will have bicycles.”

     They didn’t disappoint me. Ira got his wonderful red and white Trek bike with the electric gears. Patty bought a cute little bike that folds up so it will fit in a case. Both bikes are going back to Finland with them. Probably a good thing since I’d just fall off one and break something anyway.

     And to the Fullerton Jock’s salesman...hahaha. The nice guy in Huntington Beach got your sale.