...and then it kinda grew on that someone, and he or she liked it after all?

Before I discovered Bike Forums and C&V, I did not value old bicycles at all. Through my ignorance and impatience, I caused my wife to sell her beautiful Campus Green , 1970 Schwinn Suburban 5-speed , loaded with generator lights and speedometer, that she bought new as a 12-year-old with her own birthday and Christmas money. This happened in 2003, when I'd lost my job and she was feeling desperate for cash.

Three years ago this month, I discovered the C&V forum and learned what a terrible mistake I made. So I made it my mission to track down an identical copy of my wife's bike, the original having been stripped and long gone by the shady operator who bought it.

When I told my wife of my mission, she stated flatly that she did NOT want that bike. She never liked the color -- Campus Green and Sierra Brown were the only two colors offered at the Jackson Schwinn dealer -- and besides, she already had a nice 3-speed Raleigh Sports in royal blue, a gift from an elderly widow she'd befriended.

And besides, it wouldn't be HER bike -- just another one that looked like it.

I didn't listen, because I thought I needed to right this wrong, even if my wife insisted on reselling the bike the minute I brought it home. The fact that I got one for her was enough for me. What she did with it afterwards was her choice. (Female members of BF, please take note of the inner workings of the male mind.)

It took three years before I found one, but I did just last month, and for the same $50 she sold hers, although this one lacks the lights and speedo. I can add those from my parts bin, though.

She took one look and said NO, I don't want it. There were around 40 bikes inside and behind our garage, and she saw this as one more bit of clutter. I agreed to sell the bike at the locally famous, annual neighborhood-wide yard sale, held the first Saturday in June. The Edison Street Sale always attracts a couple of thousand people to our neighborhood.

But wily me, I priced the Suburban at $125, high enough to scare off potential buyers, I thought. And no one offered to buy it, although I sold 10 other bikes that day.

So the Suburban returned to the garage. And then, just two days ago, my wife said something that was music to my ears -- she asked me to keep the Suburban for her! This was like forgiveness for a mortal sin to me.

You see, recently my wife has been walking with a friend for fitness, early every morning, but the exercise has caused her a knee injury, such that she needs to limit the stress on it. And she's on her feet all day at her job. So, she's taken to riding her Raleigh around the track instead of walking, and it helps her exercise her knee without pain.

But -- guess what? -- she's found that the three-speed isn't enough for getting up hills or making much velocity. And so now she values the additional bike -- which is a ten-speed. I couldn't be happier. In a small way, she's come to see my point of view, which is -- you can have more than one bike. Especially if it's C&V.

Apologies for the long post, and thank you for reading it. So, have you ever given a C&V bike to someone who didn't appreciate it at first, but liked it later on?