Recently, amidst the fog of a head and chest cold, I popped over to Dighton and bought a vintage English bicycle. No, it wasn’t the cold meds that prompted this momentary bout with madness. I’ve been thinking about getting a bicycle (or fixing up my old one) for a while now.

If I had been a more educated bicycle buyer in the early 2000s I wouldn’t have gotten the bike that I did. It’s a hybrid road/trail bike, and it’s probably the least elegant thing in the universe. It’s a perfectly fine bicycle if you want an exercise machine, which at the time I did. My parents bought it for me when I (finally) graduated college. I rode it every now and again for a couple of years, but when we moved it just sort of sat in the shed. I had goals to turn it into a commuting vehicle, but I was too intimidated by cars and what not, even though at the time my job was only 2 miles from my home.

I tried to be enthusiastic about cycling, but I could never find my niche. I spoke to a few bicycle enthusiasts that I knew, but I just didn’t fit well with their bicycle culture. I don’t like the aesthetics of the Lycra crowd, nor did I fit with the ironic hipster crowd. Where were my people? You know, the picnic crowd. The take it slow and enjoy the ride crowd. I didn’t even know those people existed until I came across an advert for the Boston Tweed Ride last year. I immediately thought: Hallelujah! I have found my people! Hats! Tea! Baskets! Old English bicycles! Even if I’m hardly ever as put together as those people, just looking at the photos from that ride were inspiring.

I hate exercising for the sake of exercising, and that’s what my bike felt like. Like some sort of hamster wheel. (Past me was just fine with hamster wheel exercising, but present me hates it.) I wanted something charming. Something I could put a basket on or a rack on the back to cart a thermos of tea, my knitting, and a picnic lunch. Something to get me from point A to B while looking cute. There are some in the bicycle culture who look down upon those who like their bikes to be as quirkily fashionable as they are. I say let those people have their lycra or their skinny jeans and ironic mustaches. More power to them. But let me have my flowered sundress, floppy hat, and picnic basket of tea and biscuits.

My poor, neglected, exercise machine of a bicycle (really, it’s not its fault) has sat these seven years rusting in the shed. I shall endeavor to fix it up and sell it to someone who will enjoy it and use it. A neglected and unused bicycle is a sad, sad thing.

Since discovering the culture of English (and otherwise) 3-speed bicycles, I decided to procure one for myself. I spent the last year casually researching old 3-speeds and perusing Craigslist for something affordable that wouldn’t require too much fixing up to be road-ready. Searching exclusively on the Boston page was a mistake, since most of the 3-speeds one finds there are priced way out of my range. Jesse had the brilliant idea to search more locally to our neighborhood and found one for far less than those in the Boston listings. The frame is a bit too small for me, seeing as how I stand at a stately 5 foot 10 inches, but it’ll do for now. I have my summer bicycle, and when I save up enough for something nicer (oh, how I drool over the Pashley Princess and Brittania), I’ll probably pass this one along to someone else. Or maybe not; I’m becoming quite attached to it.

It is a lovely Royal 3-speed and in excellent shape for its age (1964 if the hub is original). There isn’t much information about this particular line of bicycles available online. Examination of the markings on the parts, the decals on the frame, and research and conversations with other vintage bicycle folks online leads me to conclude that it was made in England by Raleigh and imported to the US by D. P. Harris Hardware and Manufacturing Company of New York.

One of my online bicycling/knitting acquaintances helped me name her. I think Josephine is a fine name for such a classy bicycle. My first goal is to install a basket on the front, and make a pretty liner for it. I also want to make a big, floppy sun hat to go over my helmet, though I have no idea how successful that project will be. I’ll need to get her tuned up soon, but I don’t think I have the money for that just yet. She’ll also need new tires, and I’ll want to get a patch kit and tool set to carry with me. And a bell. And a rear rack with folding baskets. But I’m getting ahead of myself; all in due time.

Last week I rode a bicycle for the first time in seven years. It felt quite good, and since I still have my derby legs, I was able to ride a little over six miles in one go.  Very much looking forward to bicycle picnics in the park, and longer tours once I get her fixed up a bit more. Would anyone care to join me later this summer on a casual cycling tour? Let’s plan!

Cheers!

(Click on the photo to be taken to Josephine’s Flickr set.)