!!MY BIKE!!

I've been saving up some money for two bikes - a mountain bike and a road/cyclocross bike for the last couple of months now. My first priority was the cyclocross bike because the only road bike I have right now is borrowed from a friend (which I'll have to return around August) and road bikes are more expensive. However, a pretty sweet deal came up on craigslist this past week. It's a 2006 Cannondale Prophet, the reviews of it are fantastic, it was a $1300ish bike selling for $500, and it hardly ever riden, in perfect condition (some chain rust was the only weak point), and it had great shock absorption. Oh, and it's RED. Great bike, really cheap, totally going to change the way I mountain bike, and in a color I prefer. I'd have been stupid not to get it, so I ended up becoming a pround parent of Iri. See below for photos.

I name all of my bikes, and some that aren't mine.

Gordon is Rich's old mountian bike I've given now to Paul. Gordon was Rich's middle name and I thought it fitting. It means "Large fortification". The bike is DEFINITLY too big for me, and it's a mountain bike, so the idea of fortificaiton fits well.

Dorthy is the Cypress hybrid Paul gave to me, also my grandmother. It reminds me of her. She was older, slower, not super agressive, but a really good thing in your life and fun. Switching gears was difficult for her, she definitly had a particular way of thinking, and switching gears on the Cypress was also the bane of my existence with that bike.

Damian is Andrew's Kona Jake I'm riding. Besides the whole OMEN reference, the name Damian's background is Greek in origin possibly meaning "to tame, subdue" although also close to the word for "Sprit" It also comes from the Sanskrit word "dam", meaning "who can give". It's fitting as the Kona Damian brings out in me someone who rides fast, sometimes needed to tame or subdue myself. In the first week I had the bike, I was told about 20 times by both Paul and Andrew "This bike goes fast. Don't do anything stupid." :) It has tremendous spirit and fittingly it ties in very well with the fact it was given to me by someone for a while.

Iri is my new mountian bike. It's a very unique bike, with really interesting geometry and I decided it needed a unique name. It's really cushy, like sitting in a soft armchair, and the name creates cushy mouth movements when said. IRI is hebrew and means fire, light. The bike is lipstick red, which is bright light and like irridescent fire. Besides, I'm going to burn some trails up on it :)

IRI, MY BIKE:

Searched for some better images on the web

(my camera's still not functional yet)

and found the below: