I'll start my post with trivia. Take photographs - this helps a lot in later repairing holes in your memory (and don’t forget to back up your archives - this increases the chances of their safety :)
As a child, I had a bicycle, but not for long... and I didn’t have a camera - so I don’t remember at all what it was like, something not very serious, something for children. That bike was stolen from me pretty quickly; I didn’t have time to properly understand how good it is to be a bike owner. And we better not talk about him anymore.
The relapse occurred - thanks to the photo below, I can indicate this with certainty - on July 6, 2008. On that hot day, our friends invited us to ride along the embankments of the city. By the way, the author of the photo that preserved that day is 
They rented 4 bicycles - these were folding bicycles of the brand Shulz - a cheaper analogue of well-known Brompton. Please note that neither my wife nor I have ridden bicycles for almost two decades! Despite the lack of training, my legs and arms remembered what I am supposed to do, and the bike ride turned out a great success; my wife and I enjoyed riding 'Shulz' folding bikes so much that we decided to become the owners of our own pair of folding bikes as soon as possible - to make up for lost years, i.e. fill with riding pleasures that summer-autumn and not wait for the next year.
Alas, all the bicycles of this brand were sold out in the spring... but we were able to find a few in Moscow, so we went to Moscow, bought bicycles and returned back to St. Petersburg. It turned out to be such an indirect, intricate story.
I slightly remember we paid 12,000 roubles for both bikes (not including the ticked prices for Travelling to Moscow, ofc). Today its price label is above 34,000. O, tempora!...
My wife chose a green bike for herself, and I chose my favorite orange color. In the photo below you may see a happy me with my orange Shulz on the very 1st day.
They say 'pink for girls and blue for boys', but cycling industry dont necessarily follow that!
Long story short, my next two years I enjoyed cycling a lot. I used it to get to my office (during the summer-autumn season), and of course for exploring the around together with my wife - some districts became more closer and more available to us. In 2012 I changed my employer, and close office location did not need cycling involved anymore, but long before that I stopped enjoying what I had cause, you know, I started to want more!
See, 'Easy Shulz' is a folding bike and it is great, it was a huge benefit cause my living space is quite restricted. We dont have a separate house, quite on the contrary!
The thing is, this model has its limitations: 3 speeds only and 20″ wheels; it is well adjusted for leisurely city walks on smooth asphalt, but nothing more; when it comes to more uneven surfaces, inclined upwards, or the need to go fast, overcoming a wind resistance... you need a completely different bike.
I stopped enjoying cycling, but actually it was not cycling in general, but riding a 20-wheeler that I stopped liking. For a few years I put cycling on pause ... my wife was busy with our new-born babygirl, so - both Shulz were keeping dust.
The decision inside me was maturing; I had to understand what I really want to get. Suddenly, in the year of 2013...
...I found what I wanted to hug, and hold on! (and looking ahead, I will note this 28-wheeler is steel my companion).
While looking through the lots at avito (Russian equivalent of ebay), I came across this 'Author Context' mountain bike, with the price label was only 12,000 rubles. (At that time I couldn’t afford anything expensive or luxury...) The model served to the previous owner for 3-4 years, I don’t remember exactly, the bike was not “like new”, it had worn tires and a worn saddle, but I immediately fell in love with it.
You may laugh, but most of all I liked its “horns” (palms-holders) and a rounded “neck” with smooth bends, by which I like to hold and drive the bike when going by foot. (Yes, I am a “tactile sensation” kind of a person).
The frameset was 19" and by the time, during the test ride and later, I considered it suits me well. (Now I dont think so, and want to get something bigger).
From 2013 and on, the bike became my true and only companion. I fell in love with its sporty riding position (low-slung snake type is my favorite), a narrow sport saddle and maneuverable handlebars; but most importantly, this bike allows me to enjoy speed ride and overcome obstacles and distances more easily; it physically and psychologically allows me to beat really long distances of more than 10 km - unlike the short-walk Schulz.
Perhaps someone who has read the story to this point will ask: do I take part in competitions and group trips? no... and I regret it a little. Probably, this could have happened in the past, but I was late at that time, and now it’s too late. But let's not make categorical statements. From time to time I go to the city bicycle forum and read the announcements. Perhaps one good day I will join the trip of club members to Kronstadt town - good company in this matter means a lot! :)
The camera is not 100% compatible with cycling, you either walk and look around well, or you ride, keep an eye on the road and don’t turn your head left-right in search of an interesting stuff. Choose one or the other, but not both options! Still.... you have a backpack on your back, with a camera and a small arsenal of 2-3 lenses in it, and you often find yourself in new places that you would never otherwise visit. And that inevitably means photographs!
So, in the end, the bike is definitely a boost and a bonus. Sometimes when I come across something interesting and stop the bike and take a photo, I deliberately leave the bike in the frame. But while preparing this post, I didn’t find a single suitable photo, sorry.
Bikes covered with snow and such photos always make me smile. But I know what is hidden “beyond the frame”...
Also, unfortunately, cycling is poorly compatible or completely incompatible with rain, snow and winter weather... of course, if you don’t feel sorry for killing your bike. 🤓 Some people, I know, intentionally buy a poor bike for winter cycling and do not regret its killing... I can't act like that. Once I tried to ride my bike on a winter road (poorly cleared of snow), and caught such a huge dose of adrenaline in my blood... that first time also became the last time :)
Isn't this the end of the story? No!
The story might end if I stop riding a bike... but it seems teleportation hasn't been invented yet, no? I have not seen a single public municipal teleportation booth on the streets. This is probably not planned for the next century, but much later. So bicycles are staying with us for now!
I leave a bunch of important aspects untouched - but it’s impossible to cram everything into one post, right? So, the other posts will follow one day.
Now there are 5 bikes in our household: two old Schulz I mentioned, one for use by my wife at the summer country house, and one bike belongs to my daughter. In fact, I am dreaming of a new bike, because after several years of use I realized -- I want a larger frameset size, this one feels now a bit too small for me.
Well, if I found a wallet full of dollars one day, I would probably buy a carbon road bike - I like the light weight, I appreciate that feature in my bike a lot. But for now, instead, I upgraded my “Author Context” by changing some details in it - this happened just in the fall of the year 2019, right before Covid shit... Below I will show you what exactly I changed.
Rack: an indispensable and very useful thing for a bicycle. My sports bike does not have a rack, although alas, I de facto use it very often in such a way that a rack would be very useful to me. No, I don't plan to change that.
The same thing with mudguards - my bike is not equipped with them, I tried to attach a mudguard at least to the rear wheel, but it turned out to be impossible. In general, I like my bike more without mudguards. I just try not to go outside in rainy and wet weather. Unfortunately, it rains in our city very, very often.
This bar maybe is the fave part of my bike! well, at least very very enjoyable for me.
"Author Context" has Shimano Deore control elements - this is an excellent compromise of quality and maintainability, I am not going to change anything here. Although I would have liked to replace the handlebar with carbon one... maybe someday I will - but only with a new bike.
What I changed about my bike very soon, were tires. I put two different ones - that do not sounds like a wise decision, but at the time I could not invest into it more.
This Schwalbe Marathon Mondial premium tires protects my leading wheel. I am in love with it. Tho it costed me about 35 euro in the internet shop, I still consider it was my best ever investment into my old bike...
The first owner from whom I bought the bike left the simplest pedals that were originally included - I replaced them with more durable and comfortable 'Shine' ones.
At the end of the 2019 season I changed the system on my bike - I didn't do it myself, I actually just placed an order with a local bike shop who did it for me; I updated the system in order to update these elements (they can be considered consumables if the bike is used for a long time and actively).
And finally the last... for today.
For several years... no, not like that; I better start like this: all these years I dreamed of a Fizi:k saddle, and looked at numerous lots at Avito. Sometimes dreams come true - if you help them come true. Last year, finally, several factors came together, including my finances, and I became the proud owner of a white Fizi:k saddle. Indescribable and fragile beauty in Italian style!
The final funny bit: my daughter helped me with this photosession. While I was taking all these shots of the bike parts, she asked if I decided to sell my bike. (Clever girl! what else she could think of?..) But no, I said it is just for my Hive blog, and we smiled. I not gonna sell my old companion, I am sure we will have a lot more fun together!
All pictures taken by me. With this post I participate in another 
More details on the contest here. Thanks for your vizit! see you next time.
| location: | St.Petersburg, Russia | October 2023 | natural light |
| camera/lens: | Canon 5D | Sigma 50mm | raw-conv |
All images taken by me, copyright (c) 