a dedication to mijn fiets

so i didn't actually really want to write a post right now, but i told myself i would and maybe once i get into it i'll be a little bit more excited. so here goes.
this is the last week i have with my beloved bike. the new exchange student next year is roughly the same size as me, so we decided to get rid of the old bike now and replace it with a new one. i went to the bike store last week to sort things out, sort of expecting to trade the bike in then. turns out, the new one comes into the shop on saturday, so i have until then to take my last rickety rides on ol' faithful. i know this whole year i have been complaining and joking about my laughably jacked up bicycle, it's 75% duct tape, no gears, no lights, and i'm pretty sure several key componants have simply fallen off throughout the course of our relationship. lets not even talk about the noises it makes when i have to ride over cobblestones.
but, to be honest, i am going to miss my bike. a lot.  last week in the shop when i thought it'd be the last time i'd see it, i was literally on the verge of tears. because like, it feels the same as having to put down a really old pet. i have been through everything with it, every freaking impossible ride to school in the wind and rain and snow, every late night back from the city. i've spent an entire year, every almost day, riding that dumb bike around! it's seen what i've seen. every time i literally had an emotional breakdown mid-commute, my bike was right there with me, taking my shit [sometimes i talk to myself on the way home/ to school if things are particularly hard. i feel like i might have actually been talking to the bike. in any case, it's heard quite a few "echt waar??"s and "fucking HELL"s and long winded complaints. sometimes i cried.]
and every good day, my bike's ridden just as happily as i did, through the sunlight and warm breezes.
i have so many stories with my bike! like the time i lost my key when i went to hengelo with jacque, and we had to leave it there for 2 days. or every time i've had to fish it out of a mangled pile of bikes at school, or the time i taught myself to bike with no handlebars. how for at least half the year, the lock stuck and it took me literally 5 minutes to lock up, my fingers too numb to apply the necessary pressure. how pieces fell off on my way to school and i had to walk it the rest of the way because it didn't work anymore, and i cursed at it and got mad. but i always forgave it, cos i needed to ride it again the next day. i can't stay angry at it for long, i think, it has its own form of puppydog-eyes.
i feel like my bike just gets me, y'know? i'm serious here. it isn't just my mode of transportation, it's like my loyal steed.
so as crappy and broken and shamefully difficult to ride as my bike is, i love it. 
when i have to say goodbye to one of my best friends [i am not kidding, call me a loser i dare you], i'm still gonna keep the key. just as a memento. and i am not ashamed to say that i have spent several minutes cooing sweet goodbyes and comfortingly petting the seat, as one would calm a euthanized housepet.
just a sidenote, does anybody else feel as attached to their bike as i do? i'm interested to know. i feel like maybe i'm the only one who feels so strongly about their bike. i think it's probably because nobody else's bike is as fucked up and insane as mine haha. it has personality. quirks.
and the new bike won't be the same. it will feel stiff and new and serious, strict and expressionless. just a mode of transport. maybe that would be why other kids don't love their bikes like i do mine. 
anyway, this i figured it a special post about my bike. more about this week is coming up in the next entry :)