Bicycle Repairman Came By

8:22 (of Thursday, April 9th 2020)

Today is Friday, April 3rd 2020 and it was for the most part a very relaxed day. I finished a big chunk of my work yesterday, and so today was a lot more relaxed. I still had a lot of work due of course, but it was more chill now that a good chunk of it was completed.

Around 3 PM a bicycle repairman came by to pick up my bike. He was wearing a surgeon mask and gloves to protect himself against the virus. I gave him my bike, he loaded it up on some bike inspection tools being carried by his van, and then proceeded to take a look at it. He said this and that had to be fixed and adjusted, and the bike rear tire had to be replaced since the tread was gone. It has been around six years since I last rode this bike, and so I knew a lot of things had to be fixed and replaced with it.

The total cost came down to $211. It was normally $135, but to drive by here to my area and pick it up cost an additional $35. Add in an extra rear wheel tire which was apparently $40, add in some taxes, and that's how the total came to $211. I thought it was a fair price. Other bike shops I looked at charged even more than this for the same service. There was this awesome bike shop in my old city that closed down now. They apparently went bankrupt. That's crazy!! They were such a cool bicycle shop and store, that's where I got one of my first bikes and it was much better quality than any Wal-Mart bike I rode.

That first bike I got from that bicycle store was a Fuji Adventure 3.0 from 2010. I got it new for around $400, well, my parents got it for me. The previous bike I got before that was a Mongoose from Wal-Mart which was around $90, and that bike sucked. It broke down often, gearing switching didn't work, it was a disaster of a bike. It eventually got stolen which I didn't care for. The Fuji bike served me for several years, it was a hybrid and so I couldn't travel too far with it.

A few years later I upgraded to my first road bike. Now that bike I traveled 40+ miles a day sometimes. This was back in High School too. It's the same bike I still have today. I don't know why I stopped riding it, but eventually I guess I just got bored. It eventually developed a flat tire, and I didn't have a pump nor knew how to replace the tires, so it was just left flat. I left the bike in my room, and I haven't ridden it in years.

Now I'm getting the bike fixed up again so I can ride it and go far distances. I still haven't ridden a bike since I moved here in 2015, but I have walked and traversed every area in a 2 mile radius around my new home. 2 miles doesn't seem like much, but it's quite far on foot. I mean I have to walk 2 miles, and then walk back another 2. 4 miles on foot is quite far. Still, I've explored nearly every area in that 2 mile radius. With a bike, now I can go even further. There are stops in my walks or runs where I just have to turn back, because it's already too far out. With a bike, I can break through those invisible walls stopping me from moving forward.

It's going to be so much fun. I can't wait to ride the bike again.

Anyway other than that, the rest of the day was not memorable at all. I shared this story with a few other people. And that was it. Very plain day other than a bicycle repairman coming by to pick up my bike for repairs.