I got a new bicycle this week.  My fifth one since moving to Amsterdam.

My first one, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, lasted for about four months (February 2003 - June 2003) before it got stolen.  My second one, Niet Makkelijk, lasted about a year (July 2003 - sometime in the middle of 2004) before it was retired because of "old age" (just generally falling apart in a lot of little ways, though nothing extremely severe).  My third one, Cleveland (a.k.a. Darth) Brown, lasted approximately three years (mid-2004 - May 2007) before dying from a cracked frame.  And then my fourth bicycle, Pilgrim, lasted almost two years (May 2007 to February 2009) -- but also ended up succumbing to a cracked frame (both times it was the stem of the front fork -- which seems to indicate that my handlebar leverage technique may be problematic).  Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz and Cleveland Brown were good bikes.  Niet Makkelijk and Pilgrim not so much.

It remains to be seen what will come of the new bicycle.

The new bicycle is a Batavus Torino (a Dutch brand trying to invoke Italian imagery):  three-toned paint-job (gray, blue, and dark purple) with silver splatter-guards and a dorky round headlight.  It's too old to be cool in the "shiny, sleek, new" way... but it's too new to be cool in the "old-school, black-framed, classic, oma-fiets" way... but it seems to be a solid piece of machinery that should serve me well (I notice that I'm getter better and better each time, when it comes to figuring out what's important to me in a bike).

So now, I'm trying to name it (an old tradition for all my "beasts of burden").  But I haven't completely decided.  Here are some of the names that I'm currently considering:

• Number Five
• Torino Twilight (because of the three-toned paint job)
• The Shroud (Get it?  The Shroud of Turin?)
• Giuseppe Crepuscolo ("Joe Twilight" in Italiano)

So what do you think?  Any other good suggestions?  I'd love to have some help on this most-important task. :-)