Her name is "Atala". She is a little small for me and red like a Ferrari. She is not particularly fast but I love using her to get around town. It's the only practical way to do it here in Padua, where bus service is awkward, car parking is impossible and walking can be somewhat long and tiring, considering my house is outside of the old city walls.
She's just fast enough to get me to work on time but slow enough that I can look at things along the way and enjoy the ride. I keep up with my window shopping this way.
The trick is having a bike that is old and ugly enough not to be stolen and resold for next-to-nothing but be useful enough to do its job. Some university students are riding around in squeeky messes with wobbling wheels which can be ridiculous to watch. The other version is to cycle on a "Graziella" that is so small the burly male students look like they will fall off it at any minute.
I want to thank my Atala for almost 5 years of faithful service. Grasie vecia mia (in local dialect for Thank you good ol' girl!
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