IrishOboe

As part of my desire to get more involved with the students, and partly from a curiosity of how the brass band system actually works here I planned to go to the brass band concert on Sunday (Jan 22). I planned to ride my bike there since it was not to far from Shirane and it was a nice day. I went about a quarter mile before my breaks made a horrible scraping noise. I noticed that the back breaks were worn through to the metal so metal was scraping metal. I thought I could go on without using those breaks, but a little while further the metal scraped through, the tire bulged out and there was no longer the possibility of the back wheel moving an inch. I carried my bike home (mountain bikes are heavy!) and tried to get a ride to the concert with no luck. Truth be told, the breaks have scraped the tire ever since I got the bike so it’s been scraping for at least six months. For a while I could hit the breaks with my foot to keep it from scraping but at some point that stopped working and I never got around to taking it in. Actually, that’s not true. I tried a few times but the bike guy wasn’t around so I gave up and went home. Well, at least I should be happy that it didn’t happen on my way to work.

I called Naito sensei and she met me at the bike shop and he gave the estimate of $100 for breaks, tire, and rim. I thought bike repairs were cheaper than car repairs . . . Some people said I should have gotten a new bike, but mountain bikes are not as easy to come by as Japanese bikes and I’d rather spend some money then send another piece of metal to the junkyard. He gave me a bike to borrow while he fixed mine and it felt so funny to be on a Japanese putt-putt bike! It did the job, though, and I got to school and Bible study the next day. Tuesday night (Jan. 24) I picked up the bike after school only to turn around and bring it back because he’d put thicker breaks on so that the metal holders stuck way out and hit my calves when I rode. He told me (in Japanese of course) to stick my legs out more so I wouldn’t hit it, but if I still didn’t like it after a few days I could bring it back on Saturday. I’m a wimp when it comes to these things and I almost didn’t go back in the first place, but I didn’t pay $100 to hurt my knees! Well, that was the start of the adventure. As much as I prefer the mountain bike, the Japanese putt-putts are much more stable and easier to ride in traffic. The seat is low, you sit upright and can keep balance while going slowly much easier. After a few days of it I had a little trouble with my own bike and the situation with sticking my legs out didn’t help. No more than a dozen or so yards from the shop I lost control and decided to run into a fence rather than into the road. I still think that was a good decision, but it bent my handle bars again after he’d just fixed it all up! (Sometimes I’ve tried to ride down the slope from the second floor of the bike garage like students do, but I’ve had about as many failures as successes and the failures result in the handle bars jammed into the railing. Man, I’m such a klutz!) I managed to make it back to my apartment with not a few bobbles and near disasters. I was clearly worse than usual so I determined to go to my room and not to anything that required coordination for the rest of the night. As I put my bike under the staircase and went to turn off my back light the bike fell and I ripped off the back light and broke it. Laughing at myself I bent over to pick up the bike and as I tried to stand up my helmet caught my head between the bottom of the staircase and the bike. The fluidity of the whole scene was worthy of a Marx Brothers film.

I quickly became familiar with my bike again and was riding it home the next day with complete confidence, but somehow rather than popping over the slight curb at an entrance to a construction site I slid along it until my bike continued sliding left and I continued forward. I don’t quite know how I fell, but double gloves and double long underwear prevented any blood wounds. I got a few bruises and was quite sore, but I was able to get up and keep going. My main thought was that I hopped it wouldn’t interfere with running with the tennis team the next day.

I’m happy to say that was the end of my bike adventures, but apparently the disease hit Florida and my dad had a bit of a fall of his own. We’re all okay, though, praise God!