samuttodd Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 I had my old red bike in pieces when it was new it was a state of the art top of the line machine at right around 20lbs i rode it tens of thousands of miles used to roll 440 miles a week on it when I was in my prime i was under 30 about 8% body fat my waking pulse was 25 beats per minute I could hold my breath for nearly 2 minutes if i had to i was stronger than strong hard and lean and able to outrun the fastest thouroghbreds One day in september i left diamond lake and rode to crater lake then i rode twice around crater lake and back down to diamond a pair of f-15s from k-falls were skirting the south rim of the lake i swooped down with them through the hemlock and pines the sweet smell of the last of summer rolling up the flanks of mt scott feeling as alive as i ever have the blue sky and long horsetail clouds and a couple of fighter pilots my only witnesses i crated the bike overseas and it sat there in the box for a while i knew it was in there in pieces i called around and found a little shop where the guy said he could put it back together for me But it was $18 (US) and I thought that any guy that was as close to a bike as i was to that bike needed to put it together on his own bike tools are specific to bikes and I'd have to improvise with general hardware i found all of the pieces and got them in order greased the quill stem and wedge in the headset reattached the bars and brakes found an old set of 535's in my tool box and attached them to the cranks the bottom bracket seemed sincere and the tires still held air i decided to re-wrap the handle bars with fresh tape and dug out a pair of shoes that had a clip in cleat everything seemed good but my heart was just not in it so i leaned it up against the wall and covered it with a tarp i left it there overnight to sleep on it i suppose that i was second guessing myself maybe i was worried that the thing would fall apart in front of the neighbors? or that i'd suck air and not have the chops to ride anymore not have the strength or the coordination not have the endurance or just not have the gumption or the guts to try i looked the bike over in the morning it was a beautiful thing almost like a piece of art a kinetic sculpture of modern engineering i walked over to the bike and straddled the top tube grabbed onto the bars it felt proper and right i clipped into the pedals and knew that meant commitment it felt good that the deciscion was made i felt better once i'd done 5 or 6 miles and decided to keep on going sometimes it is possible for a guy to scare himself out of feeling really good to allow himself to be robbed of life's simple pleasures by a thief that rents space in his head i reckon it is time to draw up an eviction notice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratcatcher Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 I am old, out of shape and not a cyclist. That was bloody brilliant, bordering on poetic. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 My thief kept nagging - oh no oh no, something bad will happen, as I was reading. Keep on cycling, awesome story ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvaviator Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 Riding a bike is poetry in motion - Most efficient way of getting from A to B ever invented by man :-) Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samuttodd Posted August 2, 2019 Author Share Posted August 2, 2019 I believe that the bicycle is one of mans greatest inventions. Absolutely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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