the tale of the pink bicycle/bastard

fact: i have been lusting after a pink bicycle for many a month. i even started to believe it wasn't going to happen because not only was i unable to find a vintage cruiser that i liked the look of but there were no pink ones in this country. i found many when i was in the usa in december but customs and tax and lugging it on a cruise ship deemed the exercise invalid. eventually, i got hold of ben bikes who had johnny loco's in stock and were willing to cargo it to me from cape town. seeing as it felt like i was having the baby i hadn't been able to have for 10 years, i felt it necessary to fly to cape town (a little holiday romance, a few days up the west coast and hanging out with friends - a complete bonus) and collect the infant that was the beginning of my bicycling being. (not to mention the outrageously cute wicker basket from beatnik bazaar that would be the bike's spawn and that i would be collecting in ct too)

minor issues: the bike box hardly fit into any space (guest house room, collection car, car taking me to airport - thank you mermaid), box was already broken before i put it on the plane, box was too wide to fit through a door on an airport trolley, box was too high to see in front of you on an airport trolley, box required checking in to oversized baggage section (p.s. 20 x fragile stickers means it's fragile mr conveyor belt man), box was found, on arrival, lying damaged on the airport floor by chance, box required a hardcore shunt on a putco bus with airport staff to longterm airport parking which i'm convinced was halfway to durban, box only just fit in my car to take home and bike was blue.

luckily, the bike was partly dissembled but brother took it fully apart and i took all the blue bits on a little roadtrip to a panelbeater/spraypainting place where i was presented with swatches of different pinks to choose from (and the odd roll of the eyeballs from the man in charge)

2 days later i picked it up, let out a little squeal and raced home to put it all together finally.  

the pink bastard was born.

before:

(the sexiness that is natalie roos')

after:

now i just need a name for her but credit to beatnik for the original 'pink bastard'