A couple of years ago, I got a phone call from a friend of mine who lived in the city.  She told me that she had a few days off from work, and she was wondering if I would want to come up to spend some time with her.  I had not been up there for a visit yet, so I told her that I would do my best to get up there.  We had made plans a while back to ride our bikes around the city, but I had not purchased my specialized bike yet, so I wanted to wait.

After she called me this time, I knew that I would be ready.  The only problem this time, was that my vehicle was out of commission, so the only way that I could get up there was by taking the train. I checked the schedules on the South Shore Line website, and they worked out with me, but at the bottom of the screen, I read in big bold letters, “No Bikes Allowed on the Train.”  I was crushed.  I wanted to take my specialized bike with me, but it seemed that the train rules would not let that happen.

I called my friend to tell her, and she told me that she and her friends had a few spare bikes up there, and it would be no problem for me to borrow one of them.  When I asked her if she had a specialized bike, she told me that she had quite a few.  “We have a bike cruiser, a downhill bike, even a hybrid bike!”  Since I had quite a few to choose from, I told her that I would be on the next train up for a visit.  I went to the station right away, and hopped on board.

When I got to the city, I found her waiting with a few of her friends.  They were all on their bikes and they had one waiting for me.  I was stunned because the bike that was waiting for me was not just any bike, it was the exact specialized bike that I had at home.  I was so excited!  I told her that she had the bike that I wanted to bring up, and she wasn’t surprised.  We had very similar taste when it came to the bicycles that we rode.  One of her friends was riding the hybrid bike, and another rode the bike cruiser.  We took off out of the train station and made our way all around the city.  To this day, it is one of the best memories that I have about riding around in the city.