I think I've found a candidate bike for this year's challenge, and I'm pretty excited about it.
Way back in 2017, I "organized" a small group of
BF members to ride the Tualatin Valley Scenic Bikeway, culminating with lunch at the Black Iron Grill in Vernonia. While we were at the Grill, this bike caught our attention.
Later, I looked back at some pictures I had taken from another ride that ended there the previous year, and, sure enough, the same Takara was on the rack in those pictures too. I've been back several times since then, as recently as two weeks ago with @
gugie and @
Insidious C., and the Takara is always there. Needless to say, it has captured my attention.
Fast forward to this Wednesday, I was fishing around Craigslist looking for a bike that was worthy of this esteemed competition, and I thought about the Takara. Then I went to the ridewithgps route planner, and I discovered that the most obvious route from my house to Vernonia plus a loop around Lake Vernonia and then back to the Black Iron Grill comes out to exactly 100 kilometers. That can't be coincidence, right? It had to be the Universe telling me this was the bike for the Clunker 100 Challenge.
So, I sent off a message to the Grill, asking what the story was with the bike and telling them about my idea to restore it, offering to return it to their bike rack when I was done. I got a reply earlier today. It turns out the owner of the Grill bought this bike new in 1978 and is open to allowing me to "play a part in this bicycle's story."
I'm going out tomorrow to talk to them about it.
How does one account for a borrowed bike when making a budget?