saying goodbye!

todd had to say goodbye to his bike this past week. a bike that has thousands upon thousands of miles on it! he got his kestrel about 12 years ago && has been riding it ever since. he found a crack in the frame. hopefully the newly bought kestrel will honor the warranty (we have the original sales receipt). i think it was really hard for him. when he pulled away from the house, the bike was sitting on our bike racks on my car... i was taking it down for my dad to take to a friend down south. he said he got really emotional. the second picture is why...

'michael john sartinsky'

todd's best friend from junior high, mike, bought the same kind of bikes around the same time. they rode together all the time. they even took pictures with their bikes. i put this sticker on todd's bike right before he did a century up in solvang... the one he did every year with mike. there was actually three really good friends, todd, mike & john marsh. these guys were inseparable. mike was killed by a drunk driver on august 29, 2000. i think the sentimental attitude behind this bike is why it was so hard for todd to give it up. you see, he won't ever see his bike again. we aren't really sure if he will even get a bike from the company that bought out kestrel a year ago. it really was sad to see my dad take it on the back of his car too. heart breaking really! so that is why we had to take pictures.