It's ALL About the Bicycle

Did ya know I had a bicycle? Well, me neither until a couple of weeks ago. When I got here my predecessor had a bicycle, a collapsalbe bicycle. But she said she was giving it to her boyfriend when she left. Okay. Fine. Whatever. So shortly after she leaves I am talking to Junko (she is now one of my private students). I mention I am going to have to buy a bicycle. She tells me that my predecessor had a big fight with her boyfriend just before she left the country. My predecessor decided to give her the bike instead. Then she says "Maybe I don't need it. Maybe you could have it". Oh, how nice, that would be very nice. So the bicycle doesn't get mentioned again. Until a few weeks ago. Junko asks me how I am enjoying the bicycle. What bicycle? My predecessor's bicycle. I don't have it, she gave it to YOU. No, no, it is still at the apartment. It's what? So it turns out I have had a bicycle all along. It also turns out Japanese people say "maybe" when they mean "I think" and various other times. So I check out the bicycle the next day. Both tires are flat. The chain is sooooo rusty. I can't get the kickstand to work. And the wheel and brakes are seriously out of alignment. This is all more than I can handle. So I contact the Suzukis to help me out. I have heard there is a bicycle shop in the neighborhood, but I hadn't found it. And it wouldn't matter anyway, because pantomime and my pathetic Japanese wouldn't really get me an estimate or the tune-up my bike needed. They said they actually knew the owner and a week later they whisked my bike away for an estimate. 3 days later the bicycle showed back up under the shelter and I got an email saying their grandmother had sweet talked the bike shop owner into tuning it up for free. So the bicycle is back. But it still needs some tweaking. I took it to the grocery store a week ago and was really miserable for the whole 8 blocks and back. The seat was too low and it didn't have a basket, so my groceries were in my backback (2 liters of pop included). So my knees and back were killing me. I didn't have to work today and I planned to take the bicycle to the river. So today I worked on getting out the kinks. But that took a lot of figuring out. I had to figure out how to raise the seat. I had to buy a basket and figure out how to attach it. I had to figure out how to get the seats to fold down in my car. I had to figure out how to collapse the bicycle. I had to find my way to the Tenryu river. I'm amazed I even got out of bed with all that uncertainty ahead of me. But I got all the puzzles solved. By the time I got to the river it was 2 o'clock. And really too hot to go riding, but that was not stopping me. So I hopped on the path and started riding. I had read on the internet that at times the path just disappeared but to stick with it. So I did. That advice worked well for me the first 2 times. But the third time the path just seemed to stay unpaved and strewn with baseball sized river rocks. When I finally came to a dam that would require me to pick up the bike, carry it up 2 dozen stairs, ride along a busy highway for a hundred yards, then carry the bike down more stairs just to go and continue on the dirt road I gave up and turned around. The river ain't exactly pretty. There are no trees and there is lots of garbage dumped all over. But I knew this ride wasn't really about enjoyment, more about logistics. So I can't say it was a bust. And it might be more enjoyable riding down river at a cooler time. So I came home. I had planned to meet Magda for coffee at 5:30 downtown, but hadn't really thought about how I was gonna accomplish that. When I got home I decided I would try and ride the bike down there. Now that was a wonderful bike ride. I road along the bike path adjacent to the little unnamed river down to downtown. It only took me 5 or 10 minutes longer than to drive. The sun was setting and the street lights were starting to come on. Magda and I had a great time trash talking. When I rode home it was completely dark, but just so wonderful. The temperature was perfect, the crickets and frogs were singing. I even rode passed the apartment down to the convenience store and picked up a saki cooler (it might be wine, what do I know? It's all in kanji) and some popcicles. When I got back I didn't really want to stop. I just wanted to keep on riding. I can't really explain how liberating it felt. But to know I can hop on my bike at anytime just made me feel so free and giggly. I am now mad at all the time I have lost up to now without a bicycle. What was I thinking?



I've christened her "Aunt Bea". She's a Be Club, whatever that is. She does have a Shimano gear shift, for all you gearheads (ie Mark). She is a little like Aunt Bea. She's short and squat and I'm pretty sure the first time I moved her she squealed Aaaaannnnn-dy. Although the bike is black and Aunt Bea was just about the whitest woman ever.



This is what she looks like when she's all curled up asleep. Ain't she sweet?