Foxy Roxy

I am a very lucky girl.  I am a very lucky girl in oh so many ways but the reason on my mind right now is my new bicicleta: Foxy Roxy.

Roxy is connected to one of the other reasons I'm a lucky girl: My Christopher. My Christopher is dear to me for oh so many reasons and in addition to all the reasons he is dear to me, he also builds bicycles. Really really nice bicycles. Foxy Roxy is one of those bicycles.

Christopher had a summer of fun-employment a few years back. He had recently acquired a welder and decided to learn how to design and build bicycles. The first bike was a single-speed, spray painted frame dubbed the Furlough. I got another one of those first bicycles (Annabella) and they were both very fine.

Annabella: My original and first custom frame built in 2010

But he is better now. Annabella was a great bicycle in general but Foxy Roxy is custom to me alone. I always say the most important part of a bike is the engine but the engine running Roxy needs a whole lot less fuel than the bikes I've had before. (Given my affinity for cookies as fuel this is one slight downside in the matter.)

Roxy is mostly a commuter bike. In some ways it is a lavish indulgence to have such a bike subject to the perils of city riding, bike racks, rain and the daily grime. But this is literally how I get around every day. My bike is how I get to work, the gym, the store and more. I ride year-round in almost all weather conditions. I don't ride (much) when it is more than 100 degrees out and I don't ride (on purpose) if there is ice on the ground, but otherwise almost all my errands and doings around town are by bike. I am often soggy and tired of the wind.

We estimate I probably ride the better part of 3,000 miles a year on my commuter. That is about 3,000 reasons to have something fit me perfectly, be designed for exactly this type of riding and work as well as possible. I also now have a great option for weekend distance fun rides if it is rainy out. With fenders and disc brakes Roxy rocks the damp days.

Grete: Another Christopher frame made for our amica Jen of Long Haul Trekkers for their year-long adventure 

Which leads me to yet another reason Roxy is connected to me being a lucky girl: If it weren't for Roxy I'm pretty sure I would be toast right now. It was a rainy Saturday so I took Roxy for my longish ride. Near the end I was heading down on a wide, low traffic road with a dedicated bike lane. It was downhill so I had some speed (but I'm a giant wuss so I didn't have too much speed) and a car accelerated from behind to pass me right before taking a quick hard turn in front of me into a small parking lot. I slammed on the brakes, fishtailed like crazy and somehow managed to avoid crashing - either into the car and/or into the pavement. Somehow I escaped with only a semi-strained left hand and an adrenaline OD.  I honestly feel that if it were any other bike that fit me any less perfectly I would not have held it together.  Roxy is, as one friend put is, essentially my avatar.

For oh so many reasons I am oh so very lucky.