My new road bike

[johnnyb44]

Hi to all.
Last night I became the proud owner of a 1983 Peugeot Equipe Road bike .
Back in 1983 when I was a gangly 14 old i always remember this bike standing on display in the front window of Halfords for £109. Halfords back then were mainly small high street shops and not the big huge stores we see nowadays. Money was always tight for my parents when I was a youngster and i never asked for anything off them because I knew they were both struggling to survive after they parted. Never the less though, I fell in love with this bike. It was a modern looking bike with a lugless frame and skinny 700c wheels and painted in a bright red finish. I never mentioned a word to my mum that i liked this bike but unbeknown to me she spotted me gazing at it one day. One August day just before my birthday we were both in town one afternoon and i asked if I could pop into Halfords for a new brake cable for my old rusty bike I had at the time.Once inside the shop my mum took me over to this red Peugeot on display in the window and asked me casually what I thought of it. I told her what I though about it and was purely expecting nothing more of it ,but she then turned round and said " well there's one upstairs in the shop waiting for you ) I was shocked to say the least and could of been knocked over with a feather. I couldn't believe she had spent so much money on me and bought me something that I never thought I would ever be the proud owner of such a great looking bike.I was speechless and over the moon and gave a big hug and kiss.. In the years I had the bike I covered thousands of miles on it and won many time trails in my local cycling club beating many club mates with much more expensive bikes. I would cycle 60 miles a day in my peak and would not even feel the effects of it the next day.Later on I started competing against other clubs and had some good wins, (not always though ) I enjoyed every minute of my club days. Eventually the frame of the bike started to show serious signs of hard use and ended up relegated to the skip. Fast forward to four years ago my mum sadly past away and "as you do" you reminisce on all the good times you had together. Her buying the bike for me all those years ago always holds a special place for me and have since been on the lookout for another one just for nostalgic reasons. Because they were a relatively basic standard bike most of them were neglected and abused by your average teenager and trying to find one nowadays that are in good condition is virtually impossible. But lady luck struck gold last night when I won one on eBay for a bargain price of £80 and is in fantastic condition . I've been out side this afternoon cleaning and polishing it ,just like I did 33 years ago and " boy " it really feels strange getting close to one of these bikes again. ( especially with the radio blasting out old early 80,s tunes ) It evokes so many good memories of times gone by. This time round though this bike will never be sold on .Its going to be with me for the rest of my days. ��