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<\/a><\/p>\nI landed in Beijing on my birthday with barely 2 hour\u2019s sleep on the 16-hour trip. I was dropped off at my hotel and had my hopes of a nap dashed with too many distractions. Dinner with my new colleagues followed and only after that was I able to see my girlfriend, whom I hadn\u2019t seen in 7 months. Once we got over the shock of seeing each other in 3D we stopped off at a restaurant. She brought out a bag of presents for me, the one of which was a small tin box. Inside was a key. A key to what you might ask? A key to my first Beijing bike.<\/p>\n
<\/a>\n<\/div>\nNow if you haven\u2019t had a bike bought for you before, then you don\u2019t quite know the feeling. It\u2019s better than any Christmas I can remember. I mean, for any cyclists to have the object of his passion given to him is pretty damn special. It\u2019s by no means a PYGA or even a Schwinn for that matter. It hasn\u2019t got any bells or whistles (that work, at least), and it isn\u2019t flashy at all. It\u2019s just a rusted up and squeaky commuter. But I love it all the same.<\/p>\n
The famed Lotus Bike, that\u2019s what this baby is. It\u2019s a sort of hybrid of a classic city bike with a touch of mountain bike thrown in. A straight toptube and a slightly curved downtube mix together to give this frame its classic and sleek design. A touch of mountain bike is all it is though, and only is seen through the straight toptube. Other than that it\u2019s through-and-through city bike, made to get you to work and back in the most mundane fashion.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s actually not true. I\u2019ve fallen for this bike \u2013 and not just because it was a gift from my beloved, but because it is more than meets the eye. Its basket is full of wobbles, the crank arms are well bent, I\u2019m not entirely sure how the brakes are still functioning, and the kick-stand is so useless that I have to turn the front wheel in the opposite direction so it doesn\u2019t fall down. So, in actual fact, mundane it is not.<\/p>\n
Yet, even with all these drawbacks, it still gets me to where I need to go. Sure, I\u2019ve had my fair share of hiccups. On my one ride I decided that a stand-up pedal was necessary to get across an intersection fast enough. The Lotus didn\u2019t agree and the rear wheel was pulled forward from its position. The result was that the wheel was set askew and rubbing against the frame. I needed to walk home, a good 3km or so with this heavy ass bike dragging. Not ideal, but it wasn\u2019t winter so I wasn\u2019t complaining.<\/p>\n Most recently I\u2019ve been sharing my Lotus with my girlfriend. Her bike was stolen outside a subway station \u2013 sometimes it\u2019s just the way the game goes. If it happens that we\u2019re both at the subway at the same time or leaving for it together, we usually ride it together: her on the rack above the rear wheel, riding side-saddle. Suffice it to say, it\u2019s a workout. Being a flat city, hills are never a problem \u2013 that is, unless you have an extra person on your rear wheel. Then any incline whatsoever becomes a mountain.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n