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My Brompton

We Get Acquainted

I was still a bit in shock when I picked up Basil — all the way over to the East Side I was thinking “Is he really here?” (Shell-shocked from September’s experience, no doubt!).  But when I arrived at NYCeWheels, the right-sized box materialized.

Alex unbundled Basil, and went over the fine points of folding, shifting, and so on. He was very thorough, and answered all my questions patiently . . . but when he turned Basil over to me, I was momentarily horrified.  “You’re going to trust me with this beautiful machine???” I thought.  A moment of panic ensued; I felt as if I’d been handed a newborn without a manual!

I took a deep breath, though, and determined to meet my responsibilities to the best of my ability. Because I was too chicken to ride my shiny new Brommie on New York streets, we walked over to Carl Schurz Park, and commenced immortalizing our first few moments together.

Here he is, as yet unridden (by me, at least), sitting on that wonderful rear rack.

I’d dropped everything to return to NYC suddenly once I knew Basil had arrived, and by the time all the formalities had been completed, it was rather late on an overcast day, so I settled for this shot, and just one more, from the front:

That’s my customized flap on Basil’s S-bag, finally on a Brompton, where it belongs.

After the photo op, we headed down the East Side Greenway, but only made it about three miles or so before the rain began. I’m sure a little water won’t bother me a bit once I’m used to the idea that Basil is really mine, but it was already late, and he was so shiny new, so we packed it in for the day.  I knew there would be many cycling trips in the days (and years) ahead.

I rode back to Carl Schurz Park, took the M79 bus across Central Park to the West Side, and the subway up to Washington Heights — for the very first time with my Brompton in tow!

It’s really stunning how well hauling around a Brompton works.  And I can now report that a 117-pound weakling with no upper body strength really can carry a fully-loaded M6R Brompton up four flights of stairs in a hundred-year-old Washington Heights building and survive.  Whoo-hoo!

(For those keeping track, I picked up Basil ten weeks, to the day, after he was ordered.)