The first step is the hardest and the happiest.

A few weeks ago, I woke up early, made coffee and checked my email. There was an ad on Craigslist for a couple bikes for $60.00. They were unsuspended Mountain Bikes, which are a great base for a commuter bike. So, I snapped them up. The seller told me he'd be home at noon, so I was there, cash in hand.

They needed a little work. The tires were flat from disuse. The brakes needed a tweak. I doubt that there was 50 miles on the 2 of them. But they had nice steel frames, which I like. They didn't need too much, or so I thought.

Little by little, by way of backstory, I've been getting my fellow team members at Whole Foods Market to ride to work. So, my intention in purchasing these two bikes, was to fix them up and hand them over to team members, not to make a fortune.

So, last week, our frozen foods buyer, Charlie comes to me and tells me he's ready to go look for a bike. The wheels start turning in my head. Breezer? Electra? What does Acme have? He says, "I need something for a 57 year old fat guy."

Since we were both free on Thursday, I had him meet me at Acme Bicycle Company around noon. I loaded up my truck with the 2 Raleighs and headed over there, grabbing a file on my way out of the garage to take off the "lawyer lips" which annoyed me each time I had to take the bikes off of the truck rack. One was 20 inches, the other 22. He's a taller guy but the smaller bike fit him about right. Christi was there to make certain he was fit right. She told me the shifters weren't repairable.

"I guess they just want you to buy a new bike when the shifters go bad. You'll have to take a hacksaw to that part and put on some new shifters. This one has seven speeds and they want 8, 9, 10 speeds now."

"How about friction? That's what his other bike has and it's a lot less fussy to maintain." So she handed me a new set of thumbshifters and a used one for the other bike. I went to work with a a hacksaw and file, removing the offending pods and smoothing away the excess metal. Installing the new ones was simple, with just a few tweaks the bike was shifting like a new bike. The new Tektro cantilever brake went on the front where the cheap Shimano Alivio had broken, exposing the brake spring beneath the flimsy plastic. They also needed a few tweaks to line up the brake pads.

Charlie got on his bike and rode around the alley, somewhat haltingly. "Like riding a bicycle" is after all, just an expression. Riding is a skill. It comes back to you but you have to practice.

But as we were leaving, he said, "This is going to be fun. I can ride the mile to work and back, ride to the coffee shop and ride to church." He had a big grin on his face, like a kid on Christmas morning.

"Do you think having a basket will make me look like a dorky 57 year old guy?"

"Charlie, I use one. Anyway, being a 57 year old guy means you don't have to worry what anyone thinks.

So, we put a nice Wald basket on the front handlebars. He can carry his lunch, carry home groceries.

One step. One "old fat guy" (in his words, not mine) gets a little healthier, the air gets just a little less exhaust and the roads get clearer. One more parking place is available. Change comes slowly but good things can happen.