When my rear axle broke for the second time, I decided that I had had enough. Back in March of 2008, I decided to get a new bike, so that when the wife took our family's only car, I could still get around. I'm cheap and on a fixed budget, so I didn't want to get a new dependable bike, but instead took a quick look in the classifieds. Behold, someone was selling a barely used bike for $100. So I drove up for an hour and picked it up; true to his word, it was a beautiful red Schwinn Sidewinder mountain bike, hardly ever been used, and in excellent condition. I fell in love with it and paid the man his money.

It was only after I became a commuter biker that I realized what I had bought. This model was one of the lower end bikes you find at a department store - welded steel, weighed a ton, and with wheels and brakes that varied in effectiveness. Over the next year, I became very friendly with the local bike shop owner, since I've had to replace the tires, the brakes, the rear axle... I'm sure I would have had to replace the frame sooner or later. Despite all the money I was saving by riding to work, I was still coming in to the bike shops for a repair once or twice a month. This was ridiculous. So after the rear axle broke again, I had had enough.

I went online and found someone offering another mountain bike for $25 - a GT Tequesta. Five minutes of research found rave reviews; everyone who wrote about it loved this bike. The picture was a little blurry, but it looked red... just like my old bike, so I called the wife and we agreed to buy it. Another hour in the car got us to the man's house. The bike was pink; it was a man's bike, but it was pink with grey shading, like a badly painted tiger, and had chips all over the place that were covered with red nail polish. I thought, "You wanted this color bike when you bought it?"

But... I had driven this far to get it, the wife and toddler were in the car, and it seemed to ride well. So I paid the money and threw it in the trunk. The next day, I decided to ride it to work. Once the wife was out of sight, the rear wheel started to wobble. No problem, I thought, I'll fix it when I get home. Then... over halfway there, BOOM! The rear intertube burst.

My pride was hurt for certain, but I thought, I've got a spare bike at home - I'll just swap out the tires! When I got it home, I learned an awful truth - different bikes have different sized axles. Determined not to give up, I drove to the bike shop, and bought a new axle for the old bike's tire, and tried to repair it. Turns out it fit... but without nuts to keep it place, the tire wobbled all over the place. Okay, what about taking the old tire off and putting it on the new rim? I've never changed a bike tire before, so after I deflated it, I discovered that either the bike shop welded the intertube to the rim, or I have no idea what I'm doing. I couldn't get the stupid thing off! Finally, I had to admit defeat, and take it to the bike shop to get the tire changed.

So defeated, tired, and lacking pride, I picked up the new pink bike. As the guy rolled it out, he said, "This is a cool bike!" Really, I asked, and the repairman showed me exactly what was so cool about it. Suddenly, with a working bike, I felt much happier about my $25 purchase... and sure enough, it rode beautifully! With a lot less weight, owning a GT Tequesta meant that I could haul it up and down my apartment's stairs without too much difficulty, and I could really go much faster. I was thrilled.

Now I ride my pink bike with pride, speeding down roads and bike trails with ease. So as people look askance at my new wheels, I can proudly say, "Don't laugh, it's paid for!"