Here at TakePart, we’ve made it no secret we have mad love for David Byrne. I fudged the facts so he could be an awesome Sunday vegetarian, we’ve shown you some great interviews Byrne has done, and Gina posted about seeing Byrne live, during which he talked about the importance of using bicycles as excellent modes of transportation. And it’s that last point that’s important today, as David Byrne is auctioning off his folding bicycle that he has ridden all over the world.

As Gina pointed out, Byrne practices what he preaches when it comes to bicycling, and so this bike has gotten a lot of usage over the years. From his website, the man himself speaks:

It’s time for me to move on. This is a Montague folding bike that I bought quite a number of years ago, and it’s the bike I used to get around most of the towns featured in the upcoming book Bicycle Diaries. That means Istanbul, Berlin, Sydney, Adelaide, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Vancouver, London… and many, many more. It’s been around the world about four times and surprisingly, it’s all still working, though it’s scratched up, rusty in spots and there are pieces of travel stickers all over the center post (Manila and Roma are still pretty much intact). If I were a sentimental guy, it would hold sentimental value — but for me personally it would be nicer if that sentimental value were transferred to cash money that will be donated to the London Cycling Campaign, an appropriate cause.

The bike has been around the world four times. That’s awesome. Now, as of about noon Central time on August 12, the bike is going for 1,020 British pounds on ebay, which is, oh, say, about $1,700? Maybe? Also, one catch is that you have to be able to pick the bike up in Central London. Which is kind of a trek from this side of the pond. But it’s for a good cause–the London Cycling Campaign is a non-profit that promotes “an urban cycling culture in which mass and everyday cycling is seen as a sign of a modern, aspirational and civilised city.”

So, if you need an awesome bike that once belonged to one the the musical geniuses of our time, this may be one of your only shots. I don’t know if Tom Waits will be selling his Schwinn anytime soon.

And for good measure: