Well, as some of you have heard (and others have seen) I am the new, proud owner of an early generation Xtracycle! The story of how it came into my possession is kinda fun...

This last Saturday my family and I were in Meridian because my daughter was attending a swimming lesson. Before my partner and daughter went to the lesson, they dropped me off at the new Sierra Trading Post since I hadn't had a chance to check it out yet. After an hour of wandering around finding nothing, I waited outside for them to come pick me up.

When they did, my partner mentioned that they'd driven past a pawn shop that had an Xtracycle sitting out front. She asked if I wanted to go check it out, which I definitely did. But we needed to eat first so off we went to find some food.

While we were in the process of procuring food my daughter got sick, bringing our lunch experience to an untimely end. Needless to say, we forgot about the Xtracycle and made a mad dash for home.

Later that day, we brought it up at the monthly Boise SLN meeting. John mentioned that someone else had seen an Xtracycle in a pawn shop in Meridian for $75. How many Xtracycles in Meridian pawn shops could there be?! Hearing the price, I resolved to return to the shop and check it out as soon as possible.

I tried calling that evening but it was already too late -- they were closed. The next day I tried calling again but no one answered. It was Sunday, after all, and most pawn shops are closed on Sunday. We decided to run out there again on the off chance that their phones weren't working.

They were closed, but I could peer in the window and THERE IT WAS! It was dark in the shop, but I could read "Xtracycle" on the panier. It looked to be in fairly good condition, too. Jackpot!

The sign said they opened at 9:30 so I decided that I'd be on the doorstep Monday morning at 9:30...which I was. As I walked in I looked over to the corner where it had been sitting the day before -- but it was gone! My heart sunk. Someone had beaten me to it!

Just in case, I asked the lady if they had any bicycles. Her response was yes, but they had moved them into the shed in back due to the bad weather. There was hope! I asked her if I could look at them and she took me back to a warehouse that was packed with various pawned items. Clear in the back, tucked in the middle of several other bikes, was the Xtracycle!

It wasn't in as good a shape as I had thought when looking at it through the window in the dark. But it didn't suck either. I asked if I could ride it and she let me wheel it out and ride it up and down the road a few times. It rode well but didn't shift well at all. I figured that could be a bargaining chip. The tag on it was asking $150 so I wanted to try to talk them down a bit.

Well, to make a long story a little less long, I did manage to talk them down a bit, loaded it into my Westy, and drove it home. It has already served me well carrying me, along with a full-sized chainsaw, 3 quarts of oil, a gallon of gas and various tools. I'm looking forward to many more large, zero-carbon loads to come!