Sunday, December 20, 2015

Origins of Olivia

Lot's of folks know I call my blue bike "Olivia" but not a lot of people know why.

I've named pretty much every bike I've ever owned. When I finally finished my blue bike and had ridden it enough to feel like I really knew it I began trying to think of a name. A few years earlier we befriended a wonderful family from the UK. They had kids near the age of ours so they spent a lot of time playing together. In addition to being absolutely awesome friends we got a lot of enjoyment out some of the cultural differences between British and American kids.

Something about the English accent always made them seem so proper and refined. Their kids were remarkably even keeled too (this might have more to do with them having incredible parents than just being from the UK). One day I was running a carload of our kids somewhere when one of those entertaining moments emerged. I could hear the kids bickering on and off in the backseat and I was a little shocked when I heard their daughter Olivia completely lost her cool. I'd never seen her that upset before. I'd also never heard such a clear and polite threat to pound someone into next Tuesday. It took all I had not to burst immediately into laughter.

Ultimately I learned that while being very polite and refined if you pushed Olivia hard enough you might just find yourself in serious trouble. My Bonneville had those same qualities so it was a obvious choice. My bike's name also had to be "Olivia."

Sadly Olivia's family relocated to Australia when the kids were still quite small. Olivia (the young lady) graduated from high school recently and planned a winter trip to the US. When I heard she was coming I knew I HAD to try to arrange a photo of the two Olivias together.

Olivia & Olivia
Thanks so much to Olivia for humoring me and sitting for this photo. I'm glad she did. They make a pretty excellent pair.

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