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Earlier this week I was scanning through all of the local CL listings. To me local means anything within a 2 hour drive. I cover most of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and part of New York... I even occasionally check Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Anyway, as some readers may know, I have been keeping my eyes open for a blue 23" Schwinn LeTour IV since it was my first road bike. I have a red one lined up that is in great condition, but I have still been scanning the CL sites and Ebay.

At one time, I bid more for a pristine bike on Ebay than the bike cost me when I bought it new... I lost.

Anyway, back to current events... Earlier this week I spied a LeTour IV on the Harrisburg CL site and immediately emailed and called to get it. Very few details, but that it rides well, and was a LeTour IV for $20. I figured it would be a parts donor if nothing else.

After I got myself in the seller's queue I contacted USAZorro to see if he would act as my agent for the sale if needed, since it is about a 2 hour drive for me. Well, USAZorro in his efforts to build his bike fund already responded to the ad, and was also waiting to hear back. He said that he was hoping for a chromoly frame with alloy wheels to flip. Since I know the bike is not chromoly and came with steel rims, I let him knowthat if he thought it was worth his time to buy, he could flip it very easily by selling to me... but that I wanted it no matter what he decided.

In the interim, I also got a PM from fender1 to alert me to the bike's listing becase he remembered I was looking for a LeTour IV. I let him know the status, and thanked him for alerting me... I love the comeradrie in C&V.

Later that day, I got a PM that the bike was a 23" Blue LeTour IV... I don't know if I would call it my holy grail, but it is specifically what I was looking for. It rode well and he picked it up. I also got an email from the seller to let me know that he had picked the bike up for me.

I even forget if we discussed before he picked it up or not, but there was a possibility that we could meet in Allentown a little closer to me, since USAZorro would be passing through there today.

I agreed to let him keep the handlebar because he liked it, as his finders fee... Not a big deal, since I was going to replace it with a wider bar. My intent is not to keep it stock, but to have the bike and ride it with the upgrades that make sense (like wider bar and alloy rims). I also told him I would treat him to lunch as part of the deal since it was saving me quite a bit of driving.

Well, today we met at the Red Lobster near Allentown, I brought along some of the Macademia Nut Shortbread I had just received from East Hill. We waited for a while because apparently everyone in the Allentown area goes to Red Lobstr on Good Friday. But we chatted about bikes and lots of other things during the wait and over lunch. After lunch we walked out to our cars, and I loaded the bike into my car after looking at it again (I had looked briefly before lunch).

We chatted for a while more, and I gave him the shortbread I had with me since we were both too full to eat it after lunch, and I still have some at home... after a little while we said our goodbyes and each drove off.

As I was driving home, and had just turned onto the turnpike I glanced back at my bike, and thought to myself how glad I was to have found the bike for $20, and got to have lunch with a friend too... then I thought again... $20. The $20 bill I had in my shirt pocket to pay for the bike was still in my pocket. I immediately called USAZorro's cell phone, before I had a chance to calm down... I rolled to his voice mail... I was so upset with myself that I offered to mail the money or send PayPal as soon as I got home... I think he could sense how much it bothered me. After I hung up, I even thought briefly of making a side trip to Mechanicsburg, but decided it wasn't worth $20 in gas since there were other options.

So, at any rate, I now have a Blue Le Tour IV, had a great lunch with a friend, and will be sending payment via PayPal in just a few minutes.

Neither of us took pictures of the lunch, but pictures of the bike will follow after a little cleaning this weekend.

Oh, and I will still get the red bike too.