The Adventure Continues

As I drove home with the top down on the car this morning, racing the dark clouds above me, I thought to myself, "who says I have to be far from home to have a blogworthy adventure?" Not I.

Back up 3 hours and you would have seen me dragging myself out of bed at the regular weekday time (yup I know it's Saturday), checking the map twice...one wouldn't want to get lost.

I was off to the police bike auction.

When I was about half way there, I realized I had driven the Smart car instead of the van. What a rookie mistake (shakes head). Oh well, I was only going to check out the sale, see how things went, gauge the bids and the interest. When I arrived at the auction site there were about 150 bikes and about half as many people milling around, cautiously looking at the items and making notes on their iPods. Were people reserving their interest to try and deter other people from being interested in the same bike they had their eye on? Or was I over-analyzing... But about half an hour into the viewing time, the bikes were unlocked, and we all tried out the ones that had caught our eye. Sure, there was swearing..."piece of &*! bike, the kickstand's broken", or bright eyes as a toddler took a model with training wheels for a spin, or the squeals of glee as a couple who were strangers to each other tried out the bicycle-built-for-two (it was wobbly at first, but fun when we got going)!

Then at 10o'clock sharp they called all the bikes back in and the bidding began. Sweet little bike Number 92 was the one I fell in love with, but with only $50 in my wallet, I knew I wouldn't get caught up in the moment. Well, wouldn't you know there was one other person in the crowd who loved Number 92 (at least a little), but I won out with $5 leftover for lunch. Sweet deal.

I stayed for the rest of the auction, Steve's uncle happened to be there, so it was fun hanging out with someone else and talking about what everyone was buying. The biggest ticket item was a Trek bike that went for a whopping $600! Others went for $5 with people buying them for parts, or as one guy said, "it's cheaper than a lock, so if someone steals it, I don't care". I guess that's one way of looking at it! The tandem sold for about $200 (I will admit I was having a bit of bike envy).

When the sale was over, uncle Rod helped me coerce Number 92 through the convertible roof of the Smart car. Thankfully he was there, otherwise I might have had to bike home and come back for the car later.

I would have taken a photo, but as I pulled into the driveway, the rain started and I had to hustle to get the bike out and close the top before the seats got too wet.

Now it's beautiful out there, so if you'll excuse me I have a bike ride to go on. :)