People are not cool sometimes / Loving memory generator (bike) theft

Today i'm blogging with a feeling of anger, sadness, and general disappointment in the human race. The last couple of weeks and have not been great for my girlfriend and it's seems bad things do come in threes. A job loss, and huge wave swiping sunglasses off her face were not great but no-one was really to blame for this, however the third piece of bad luck is really frustrating...

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

We love our bikes

Valencia is a great city to own a bike, it's a flat as a pancake and there are numerous cycle lanes making access to the city center, and more importantly the beach, very straight-forward and enjoyable. Last October, a week after we met, I persuaded my then, girl friend, that she should get a bike and on the same day i bought mine, we went back to Decathlon and she picked hers. Both bikes were nothing expensive, pretty much bottom of the range, except i went for disk breaks and 'normal' gears - hers you moved the handle bar forward and backwards on the inside.

During the course of the past 10 months, we've ridden together and explored the City and the towns nearby on these bikes, sometimes covering 70-80km in a day exploring new beaches, places to eat, and honestly, they have been a really big factor in us becoming close. Tinder aside (don't hate!), i'd say they've been number 2 in bringing us closer together and creating new memories for us to share, which is what it's all about right?

Me so happy

All roads lead to Valencia... not quite!

Admiring the (rear) view

Pleasures in life

This weekend, like many, left for the beach and cruised through the baking hot city, dodging fallen oranges, and over-taking as many tourists as possible. I like to ride behind my girl, guys will probably guess why :) Aside from that perk, she's a terrible 'follower', in life and on Bikes. If i lead, she'll stop and take photos, and generally disagree with the way i'm going, so 99% of the time i just follow the her butt, and that works for me. Anyway, we park up in a place we have done so previously, and use our 3 locks (I have one on my seat too as that was taken before Christmas) to secure our bikes. There must have been another 30 bikes locked up around us, some not locked to the post and just through the front wheel which does confuse me a little. An afternoon at the beach passes quietly, the group of 10 Italian girls that appeared close by negating that somewhat, but we get chance to relax and unwind and take a swim in the sea which is just awesome for the soul, and i feel so lucky to have the water so close.

Some people suck

The evening draws in and we've had plenty of vitamin D to boost us for the week ahead, so we walk along the sand back to the parking spot. And yeah, i see my bike, but one is missing. Two locks they cut through for a bike retailing at 159 euros, with dodgy brakes and, a gear shifter that's almost falling off. Couldn't believe it. It's just fucking rude. So rude. We are the sort of people who wouldn't take a bike if it wasn't locked at all.... you know why, because it's not our frigging bike that's why. These people are walking (now cycling) round with a decent sized set of wire cutters, just looking for other peoples' stuff. WTF man, WTF.

Yeah the cost of the bike is a downer, teachers aren't paid a lot here, and the 'is it worth getting another one, we might not be here much longer' thoughts coming to mind too. On top of that for me though, is that some bastard has taken one of my 'loving memory generators'. This bike has created memories in our lives, it's given us freedom, and shown us around this new city and country which we arrived in separately, but rode together soon after.

This bike has played a big part in us falling in love, and fortunately, you can't take that away so easily.

Thanks for reading today,

Asher