Blog 3379 – 02.02.2025

Emma’s First Bike Project – Completed

Below is what the bike looked like when I first started on it on January 18th.

I have written two blog already about this project and said in both of them that it would probably be less expensive to just buy my granddaughter Emma Grace a new bike. But what would be the fun in that? And then there is a bit of history with this bike that my son Jay’s grandpa Wallace Mendel Stokes put together from used bike parts for him about thirty years ago. Also it has been waiting in our attic for most of that time hoping to be of use again like the toys relegated to the attic in the wonderful children’s book The Velveteen Rabbit.

In addition I considered the words to a line in my daily mantra that goes, “Whatsoever my hands find to do this day I will do with my whole heart finding purpose in even the most menial and repetitive of tasks.” This has been no menial or repetitive task and it has certainly occupied my hands for more than a few hours spanning several days and has indeed been done with my whole heart.

Yesterday, the can of candy pink Rust oleum spray paint that I ordered on January 18th finally arrived. I went to Lowe’s yesterday morning to get some sand paper ($24) to prepare the bike frame to be painted candy pink as I had been notified that the paint would arrive by evening. I also had to sand the handle bars and chain guard. I had found a can of chrome Rust oleum spray paint ($7) on previous trip to Lowe’s for painting them. I checked out our local Lowe’s for pink spray paint on January 18th and again when I got the chrome paint, but no luck. I checked again yesterday and they had on the shelf several cans of candy pink just like the one that I had ordered, but since I was sure one can would be more than enough I did not get another one. As I was going to stop by Academy Sporting Goods anyway to get some ammo, I figured I would get the final touch for Emma’s bike, a bell – ging ging ($13). While there I also priced a 16” girl’s bike similar to what I was trying to achieve with Jay’s old bike/Emma’s new bike.

Here is what I found:

(About $150 including tax)

Here is an itemize list of expenses incurred while working on Emma’s First Bike Project:

(2) 16” new tires at $20 each……………..$40

(2) 16” inner tubes $7 each………………. $14

(1) 16” rear wheel w/ coaster brake…….$40

(1) pink bicycle seat……………………………$15

(1) pretty bike basket w/motion lights….$13

(1) set training wheels “ “. “ “…….$17

(1) set handle grips w/streamers…………$7

Supplies:

(1) can candy pink Rust oleum……………$7

(1) can chrome Rust oleum…………….…..$7

(1) sand paper……………………………………$23

(1) bike bell……………………………………..…$13

$196

And of course that figure does not include the total hours I spent on this project, labor of love that it was still at $35.00 (the last hourly rate I worked at before retiring from my day job at little over three years ago) I estimate that I worked on the bike ten hours. It was probably more like fifteen, still at ten hours that is another $350 dollars bringing our total to $546.

That’s a pretty expensive 16” bike, but no less than a little Princess deserves. I hope it will be like a magic carpet for Emma Grace someday in the not too distant future.

Your friend and fellow traveler

David White

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z0Ne1WH37sKNx6Hhpv1DOzLY8tevfZa4/view?usp=drivesdk

A Whole New World