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S.ta Graziella Avvelenata
Ho hasn’t ridden a graziella?
Everybody I know, knows what a graziella is.
We scorched our knees on the graziella. We brought our cousins and friends and girlfriends on it, we threw ourselves down every hill near home, many learnt how to ride a bike on this thing.
Nearly everyone tried to make it become a fast vehicle, never making it, and actually it was the legs we were missing.
But also the vehicle doesn’t work, there’s not much to do, the graziella doesn’t go.
I dare to say, this one goes. It goes damn strong. I managed, after about 35 years. Uphill I can race against anyone, and it doesn’t even have a good ratio, 48/19, it’s not exactly a mountain bike ratio. It might be me, no (yes, it’s me); it’s light and it’s tall.
The wheels are 26 inches, they fitted as I cut piece of steel from the frame and I changed the front fork. It’s light because there’s nothing on it. No brakes, no gears. Track pieces on a Graziella, a cyclist blasphemy. It’s called Avvelenata because I treated it with verdigris.
I found it in front of a bike shop, and I won’t say where. The owner is a boor that doesn’t know how to repair anything and (often) when he doesn’t manage he throws the bike away after convincing the owner to buy a new one.
I’ll take it.
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