What's in a name?

I brought my bike home over 2 months ago.  We had a rocky start when I had some buyer's remorse about whether or not the fit was ideal, but after a fitting session we moved past that issue.  There was little cycling together the first month as it took some time for my shoes to come in so that I could go in and get the fit done.  The second month brought slightly more time together as I worked on my confidence about riding with traffic and riding solo, oh and riding in general!

I took my bike in for it's first tune-up last week.  I was expecting it would just take 10 minutes and I could browse around and wait while it was done.  But the LBS man told me it would be ready the next day!  Umm...I wasn't really prepared to leave my bike all alone overnight!  I worried about it all night long.  The apartment felt a little empty without it leaning up against the wall.  The next day when I went to pick it up, I felt relieved when I saw it being carried down the stairs to meet me.  I hadn't realized that the bike meant something to me, that I had started to care about it, until that moment.

We're soon entering our first event together and next month marks the beginning of triathlon training.  

It's time to name the bike.  

On my run today, the perfect name popped into my head.

"Once upon a time in sunny Spain, there was a little bull and his name was Ferdinand."

That's right.  I've decided to name my bike "Ferdinand (the Bull)."  The reasons are simple.  Ferdinand was from Spain.  My bike is from Spain!  Walt Disney believed in Ferdinand.  

I love Walt Disney!  Ferdinand was a "he."  I had wanted my bike to be a "he!"  Ferdinand was black. 

By golly, my bike is also black!  Ferdinand grew up and grew horns.  One day when we grow up, I'll get the bike some aerobars!  Ferdinand was not afraid of his image, associating with flowers and pastels.

My bike is laced with pink!  People thought Ferdinand would be strong and ferocious (but he wasn't).  People might think the bike and I should be fast (but we aren't)!  Ferdinand loved to smell the flowers.

With a rider like me, my bike will have plenty of time to stop and smell the flowers, too!  And when I get angry at it, I can scream at it to "Cut the bull!"  Aaah...It's the beginning of a beautiful friendship.  

Ferdinand (the Bull)