Any thoughts as to where / how best to arrange future ' events' for when the times come to peddle off in that final your?
Well, you could always contact or give them to me!
Less avaricious than it might seem, as I kept none for myself and have re-homed bikes for a half-dozen people who either died or gave up on cycling due to deteriorating health.
It is not so easy as it seems, but pretty enjoyable in the end.
Some I have found exact matches for where there was need -- sometimes desperate -- for a bike instead of, say, a car. In one case, deteriorating eyesight meant the end of car ownership and rediscovery of a bicycle as a primary means of transport and eventually led to an entire fitness program for someone who had not cycled since childhood. In another case, I parted out the bike in the best of ways, using it as organ donor to revitalize four others for community members in need through the local bike co-op: This meant a frame transplant in one case, wheels to replace a stolen pair in another, brakes for a third bike, and new(er) chainset, chain and cassette for a bike whose drivetrain had worn to dust.
In the case of death (2), the original owner didn't know the final outcome of my efforts, but in the other four cases, I took care to document the eventual fate of each bike and this provided some comfort and -- in once case -- a developing friendship between former and new owner.
In each case, the owners contacted me well in advance of their final decision so this allowed time to make arrangements for best use of their former bikes.
Just a thought or two...or six. It has worked well for all concerned and removed virtually all the morbidity that might obtain otherwise and resulted in some real happiness for others, a net gain in my book.
All the best,
Dan.
