Day 362 – Bicycle! Bicycle! Bicycle!

• Put the volume of your speakers on maximum.
• Click on this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GugsCdLHm-Q.
  

Aha, thanks, now I can actually whisper it in your ear – I don't really know how to ride a bicycle. I have no idea how that happened, because I distinctly remember myself at the age of 3-4 on a four-wheel bike in front of my house. So I must have been learning how to manage it at some point. Or was I so terrible that my parents gave up and never offered me to try again? The reason is a mystery, but the fact is really sad. I mean, I can pedal of course, it's the stopping and starting that gives me problems. I remember when I was in Holland about 5 years ago, my friend Natasha had a really hard time babysitting me while we were driving the streets of Spijkenisse. There are special bike lanes and little bike traffic lights in Holland! Every time we had to stop, my poor friend had to hold my bike with one hand to prevent me from falling down. Luckily, she succeeded. Unlike me, she is very good on the bike (thank God).

But this ridiculousness stops right here, right now! I will learn to bike properly or else!

Step 1 – a bike

We bought a bike for me for $40 on the street. Somebody told us that there was a guy on the corner of 2^nd Street and 60^th Avenue who buys parts and assembles bikes. So we went to check it out. Walked the street back and forth, asked everybody around, but didn't find the guy in question. But pretty much everybody we asked had a bike of their own (or that of their son / daughter / father) that they were willing to immediately appraise and sell to us. Liang tested several of such offerings, and we ended up getting somebody's son's bike. I would have really loved to see the son's face when he came back home and realized that his bike had been sold…

Step 2 – a lesson

Javier is the best teacher. It's all because he is truly patient. His patience is real and sincere, he is patient with himself and others, and he is teaching you (at least trying) to be patient with yourself too. I need that. I'm very impatient with myself. I am a bit better with other people. But still, my patience is like Margaret Thatcher's, "I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end." (Observer, April 4, 1989). Well, in the bicycle case, I'll be patient, extraordinarily so, because I am fairly certain that I'll get my own way in the end.

The neighbor with the "small talk disorder" passed by as Javier was explaining to me how to train the brain to put the correct foot on the ground while stopping, and noted, "It's never too late to learn". Ouch.

Step 3 – a ride

I thought we were just studying today, but no, Javier had a different plan for me. He actually made me ride all the way from our house to the airport, then make a loop by the ocean and come back. We did it all at my turtle speed (it took 40 minutes!), but still I was completely drenched in sweat when I returned home. It was fun though! Thank God for other people's patience with me!