Long Time No Bike
Yeah, it’s been a long, long while since I climbed onto a bike.
I remember the last time was probably… a long time ago. Like five, or even six years. And I’m pretty sure it was that last triathlon I did. All memory I ever retained of my glorious biking experience has been of that time where I (reluctantly) got on the road – on that very beautiful and very quiet Thomson Road – and almost got knocked down by a (stupid) van.
Oh, and not forgetting that one ligament tear I ever suffered to my knee, was caused by a freaky biking accident.
After that last triathlon, I retired my bike, sticking to the pool, to the tracks, and to the courts. (Together with that, I retired unofficially also from the triathlon.) Finally lent it to a buddy, and never took it back.
Never again as well did I touch another bike. Until today.
Sometime a few months back, I can’t really remember how it all got started, but Best Buddy and I started checking out bikes – fixies, to be precise – on web sites during those lazy afternoons when we refused to do any more work. Then somehow the conversation led to, Hey let’s get a bike. Started checking out bikes more seriously, the various makes and models, the prices, the web sites, the shops. Heart got seduced but mind reined in: Where the fuck do you, can you cycle in HK?
I didn’t escape death-by-van to be hit by a silly cab driver in HK. Or worse, the MINI BUS.
I pondered, calculated, argued, procrastinated. But before I could go on another round again, Best Bud had already gone ahead and bought a frame from eBay. Within a few days, he had a complete beauty to call his own.
So now the conversation has come back round to me. The pressure, really.
But this time, the temptation and the allure is becoming too great for me to resist.
Still… the bad memories… the war scars… the HK cabbies… the phobia.
I’m just not good with the bike. Admit it.
So Best Bud, in all his new enthusiasm, suggested biking Sunday. I think he was secretly trying to put me on a trial – to further entice me, to test my indecisiveness, to make me want my own bike.
It was going to be my first-ever in HK. My first-ever in a long, long while.
Of course, I said nothing about that last fact.
It was a bitch of a journey at first, but we eventually made our way to the other side.
Let me reiterate one more time: I am not good with the fucking bike.
Even before the actual biking started, I went and scraped my calf against the pedal when I panicked on the brakes. Huge-ass, ugly bitch of a wound. Before the biking started.
Somewhere in the middle of the journey, I hit the barrier and I flew off the rented bike, head first onto the ground. Okay, that was exaggeration but it was Shoulder who shouldered the first impact.
At the end of the day, I am all battled. The ass pain is brutal. Worse than having had a rough sex session. My back and shoulders are aching. My legs are bruised all over (a couple of other minor scrapes happened too). My huge-ass, ugly bitch of a wound stings like mad in the shower. My jeans are bloodied. (In the morning, they all asked why I was in jeans. “Oh, I need it. I need protection.” Self-awareness and precaution I had, at least.)
But I think my best bud succeeded.
I am getting that damned bike of my own.
