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| Twins separated at birth: Susan and Sharon, played by Hayley Mills in Disney's The Parent Trap |
Take two (originally) identical bicycles, strip them of all their components, then build them up again with the components from each bike going onto the other bike...
Yes, Operation Body Swap is under way. Here's the post about the London Town Bike version, using the frame from my first Puch Princess then built up with most of the components from another Puch Princess (same year and model, frame IDs only a few numbers apart) bought from a woman about 15 miles up the road.
When the Road Bike of the two twins is finished, she will look like this. Except with a nicer frame.
What name does each bike have now?
Mine has been called Lorelei almost from the day I bought her in 2010.
I don't know whether Jan's Puch Princess ever had a name.
When Operation Body Swap was first conceived, I'd assumed the name would follow the frame... in which case it was simply going to be a matter of naming the Road Bike.
But I began to find great appeal in the "twins" aspect of the project, which would mean the two bikes being re-christened with names intentionally chosen to "go together".
At the top of my list, once this idea took hold, were options inspired by this lovely "pair":
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| Ingrid Oliver as Petronella Osgood, both human and Zygon, BBC's Dr Who (Series 9). Photo via Google Images |
So... Petra and Nella/Nellie? Osgood I and Osgood II? Ingrid and Oliver/Ollie?
But then there's the front mech on 'Jan's Princess': Thunder Bird II
Penelope > Penny?
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| Still from Thunderbirds - The Movie |
Maybe Penny and Petra... I rather like that, for a pair of identical twins with distinctly different personalities!
Hmmm.
And so I have mulled and mused for the past month.
Until yesterday, when I realised that the London Town Bike -- whoever she was, is now or ever may be -- is my daily companion once again, as Lorelei was at the beginning of my cycling life. And yet the only common denominator is the frame.
I guess for me, the Name does follow the Frame. Lorelei she is and always will be.
So now I am only searching for a brand new name for the Road Bike, which is after all a creation both in concept and execution all my own, born a year ago and with no story of her own yet.
"Petra" still feels good somehow. Yet -- and I speak from experience -- no matter how sure I am about a bicycle's name at the beginning, I am prepared for the bicycle herself to suggest something else entirely one day as we spin along quiet lanes lined by the architectural shapes of bare trees. Winter is my favourite time of year for cycling in rural Bedfordshire so I am very much looking forward to hearing what my new steed has to say.
I've been having a similar incident with naming the too big pink and white Trek 850 recently our together. My mixte, Helen is his name. That one was easy.
ReplyDeleteIt's trickier than it sounds, sometimes, isn't it?! Do you have a blog or another site with photos of our bikes?
DeleteFor me, too, bikes suggest their names to me. My old commuting hybrid was Doofus. Who knows why? It was just a delightful doofus of a bike. I'd hop on and say "okay Doofus, let's get going." My current daily commuter is Sassy. But "the one I overhauled myself" is called just that, and the road bike is simply being called by brand name until s/he tells me otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI love Doofus! And "the one I overhauled myself" - I can just imagine the hint of pride in your voice every time you utter those words... Well done, you!
DeleteYou did refashion the bikes for yourself.
ReplyDeleteOnly 1 out of 5 bikes have been named. A folding Dahon bike is named "Baby Day", to distinguish from my partner's Dahon when he and I talk about our bikes. :)
Ah yes "Baby Day" - you mentioned that before and somehow I read it as "Lady Day"... and I thought, Billie Holliday?? Totally makes sense now. :)
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