Making New Memories with the Trek Neko SL

Biking remains one activity filled with emotion and memories – from both yesterday and today. Who doesn’t remember the day they learned to ride a bike? Or the feeling of the handlebar streamers fluttering in the breeze, and the sound your brother’s bike made when he fastened a baseball card to the front spokes with a clothespin and raced down the block?

Today, I’m making up-to-the-minute memories on my new bike, the Trek Neko SL. Custom-designed for a woman’s body frame, the Trek Neko SL fits and supports my body unlike any other bike I’ve owned, including the sleek road bikes I’ve used for charity bike races.

The Trek Neko SL combines the speed of a road bike with the handling of a mountain bike – all with upright handlebars so I can relax and soak up the world around me. And, it sports nine different speeds and brakes that can handle both rainy weather and muddy terrain— which gives me a feeling of security, no matter where I’m headed.

Since I’ve had my new bike, I’ve spent most evenings this summer riding it, along with my daughter, Kyle, who recently finished her first year of college. We started a new tradition this summer – riding just before sunset – catching up on the day’s events, planning our upcoming trip to Italy, and talking about what the fall will bring.

Kyle will head back to Atlanta before long, and I cherish these rides with her. We’ve ridden all through our neighborhood and beyond, exploring off-the-beaten paths and private roads – the gravel-based terrain presenting little challenge due to the Trek’s sturdy tires and design. We biked up hills, peering in the dusky light at the lovely lawns and expansive porches of some of our neighborhood’s more impressive homes.

This type of bike offers such an opportunity for companionship while on the road – much more so than my previous road bike. Due to the bike’s handling and my relaxed body position, my daughter and I easily talk, laugh, and observe our surroundings throughout the entire ride. And each night, we jump on our bikes and go in search of another adventure.

My colleague, Stephanie – also a Trek fan – agrees. She just returned home from a vacation in Bar Harbor, Maine, where she, her husband, and 9-year-old daughter peddled their bikes along the crushed-stone carriage roads of Acadia National Park. They biked past wild blueberry bushes, glided along the path surrounding Bubble Pond, and stopped to rest while overlooking Jordan Pond and the ocean in the distant horizon. In between vistas, they giggled while seeing which gear operated best during the gradual uphill jaunts.

These experiences make family memories – so much more than a day at a beach or an afternoon at an amusement park. Families riding together and experiencing the world on the other side of the handlebars take so much away from their time together. I know when winter approaches and the air chills and Kyle pores over her textbooks and term papers, we’ll both look back on this summer and remember our bike-riding adventures  -- and look forward to what next summer will bring.

Disclosure: Mom Central received a Trek Neko SL bicycle to facilitate this review.