Mother knows best about spring cleaning

Mother Nature has been graciously lending me a hand with my spring cleaning lately. Last week was cold and rainy, leaving me quite content to stay home and catch up on our post-vacation laundry and housework. Beautiful spring weather arrived just in time for a Friday night Phillies game with family and friends. Saturday was warm enough to put on our flip-flops and shorts and spend the afternoon in the driveway cleaning our new old bikes. I have been waiting for the chance to start working on my Raleigh, and my daughter was eager to join me. She parked her new old bike (which will be introduced in a separate post) next to mine, and we spent all day scrubbing and chatting. She enjoyed my lesson in finding the right cleaning tool for different parts of the bike. Her favorite tool became the baby bottle brush with sponge tip, while I stuck with the old standby my mother had introduced to me, the toothbrush. Poor Daddy doesn't have (or want) a new old bike to clean, so he took off for a ride on his favorite trail. Sunday was slightly cooler and cloudier, but Daughter was anxious to make more progress on our bikes, so another afternoon in the driveway followed. Once again we worked until dinner time, just as a chill came into the air to signal that the weekend was ending. This week's forecast is almost a carbon copy of last week's - cold and rainy during the week, with a beautiful weekend to follow. I'm looking forward to getting more greasy bike grime under my fingernails, although I'm still trying to clean out this weekend's accumulation. An old toothbrush should do the trick.

Bike spotting in Disney World

First, a brief explanation of my last few posts. Before we left for Disney World, I noticed a link on the Blogger dashboard inviting users to try mobile blogging from their cell phone or mobile device. Thinking it may be useful since I don’t own a laptop, I decided to give it a try, and followed the steps to coordinate my cell phone with my Blogger account (basically sending a text message and confirming an email). After arriving in Florida, my first attempt to send a photo to my blog failed for reasons unknown, but my husband confirmed that the next photo sent a few days later had appeared within minutes. Boy, did I feel like Techno-Mama then! Mobile blogging from Disney World, what could be easier?

Dealing with the massive crowds at Disney World, however, was not something that could be made easier with modern technology or gadgets. Only stamina, patience and comfortable footwear would get you through that endurance test. We expected heavy crowds during the week before Easter, since most schools are on vacation then, but no one was expecting record-breaking numbers this year. On Tuesday, the Magic Kingdom theme park reached its capacity at one point, and the gates had to be closed for a short time until enough visitors left. It is not easy to navigate through such crowds with a group of 7 people ranging in age from 9 to 76. But with a few early morning and late evening visits, we managed to get the kids on nearly all of their most-wanted rides.

Enough about the crowds, on to the bikes! The Disney decorators seem to have a fondness for bicycles in their still life arrangements. This scene greeted us on our first day as we walked to check-in at the reception:

We spent our second day enjoying the pool and water slide in the heat of 86F. I checked out the bike rental area and decided to wait until later in the week when I knew the layout of the resort better and temperatures would be cooler. Unfortunately, I never had time again. I only saw two people on rented bikes during our stay.

Animal Kingdom was my favorite park, and I must admit the bikes had something to do with it. I didn’t see any bikes in the African area of the park, although we didn’t get to see everything there, but the Asian area had plenty:







Taking these photos amidst the sea of people was not easy, and I was grateful to have my daughter’s assistance. Somewhere ahead of me, I heard her calling out, “Mommy, come here, it’s a Raleigh!” and she had the shot before I even caught up with her. Here's her photo:

And here's mine:

In Magic Kingdom, I could find only this sign near Main Street:

I saw no evidence of bikes anywhere in the countries represented in EPCOT, not even in China, although I admit the crowds prevented us from exploring every nook and cranny.
As the week was ending, we decided to skip the Hollywood Studios theme park completely, since none of the kids' top-listed rides were there. Anyone know if we missed any bikes there? Or anywhere else?
Back to life, back to reality.

Raleigh in Disney's Animal Kingdom

The Raleigh folly

Am I crazy? A few weeks ago I sold my four-year-old, spotlessly clean, perfectly good, department store mountain bike for $30, and on Sunday I bought this 36-year-old, dusty, dented, scratched, slightly rusty Raleigh LTD-3 with two flat tires for $15.

Raleigh folly or find? Only time and elbow grease will tell.
Heron head badgeHeron head chainringRear fender-benderSturmey-Archer hub dated "73 2"

Honestly, I didn't think it was still possible to buy an old Raleigh bike in reasonable condition for a mere $15. Low-priced, quality vintage bikes on craigslist seem to be snapped up in minutes, while the lesser quality vintage bikes keep showing up like unclaimed luggage on the baggage carousel. I decided to look a little further outside the big city, thinking there might be less competition from the "bike flippers" who buy and sell for a profit. A few days ago, I spotted an ad for a "Women's Classic Bike - $15". It contained a very brief description, stating that the bike was in good condition with very little rust and had been stored in a basement. Here's the photo that accompanied the ad:

It looked like a Raleigh to me, but I'm certainly no expert. At $15, I was sure it would be gone in a flash if it was a Raleigh, and since it was located quite a distance away, I hardly had a chance at beating anyone to the prize anyway. To my surprise, the ad was still active on Saturday, so I sent an email inquiring about the make and model. The reply was Raleigh, and after debating whether it was worth the drive, I decided to call and get more details. The owner agreed to hold it for me until Sunday, and actually took a half hour off my drive by meeting me at a closer location where she had an appointment that morning.

The exchange was made, and as soon as the seller departed, my daughter (who had accompanied me on my little adventure) jumped out of the car to examine the bike we had come so far to buy. Right away she spotted the beautiful chainring, which I explained was a heron's head, the symbol of Raleigh. She begged me to go for a test ride around the parking lot, but the flat tires made it impossible. I was surprised how small the bike seemed, especially the wheels, compared to the giant 700s on my other bike. I'm really looking forward to the feel of curvy handlebars again (though it may be a while!).

After a morning spent driving through the beautiful countryside of eastern Pennsylvania, I arrived home with my prize. I dreaded the reaction from my husband, thinking he wouldn't be able to see past the scratches and dents, but once again he surprised me. He couldn't wait to get it down from my car's bike rack and have a look at it. "I used to have a Raleigh," he said. I hastened to acknowledge its flaws before he said anything negative about the bike, but when I pointed out the dents, he replied, "I can take care of them." At that point, I knew the bike had passed muster. It was worth $15.

Then he said, "So how much could you sell it for?"