when i first came to lincoln to attend UNL i left my truck (a 1974 chevy blazer 4x4) at home in scottsbluff. after a year living here without a car i decided i didn't need the truck anymore so i had it sold back home and got $1500 for it. i remember my mom telling me to save it for bills... but it was burning a hole in my pocket. i had started racing with the CCC (cornhusker cycling club) and had done a number of road races my first summer here. my old bike was getting kinda trashed and i needed to replace it, and i had always wanted an italian bike, so what's a roadie gonna do with a wad of cash? it was early spring of '89 and i went down to the shop (the old Freewheelin' bikeshop that used to be downtown on 13th street) and had them order me in a new steed. i had initially wanted a bianchi, but they changed the graphics on their bikes that year and had really ugly decals, so i instead went with a Bottecchia SL with full campy athena. i remember the day it arrived because they called me and waited for me to come and open up the box myself. it was the most beautiful bike i had ever seen up till that time because... it was italian, it was ferrari red, and it was mine! i named her felina (from the marty robbins ballad 'el paso'). she was my first primo racing bike and i vowed i'd never sell her. i rode the hell out of this bike... raced it, crashed it, commuted on it... and i finally retired her like nine years ago. once in a while she is resurrected, this time as a single speed city machine.
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