Bike Tag pt.1

The Bike



I had been riding for years before I finally got my first real bicycle. And when I did, I flat wore that thing out. I got it from my cousin, who moved away shortly after, and it was a racing bike. It was a rough, old bike, but a racing bike none the less.

But I'm pretty sure when he first got the bike, he was able to enjoy the comfort of a padded, gripped handle. Instead of the slick, grippless ones I'd been getting used to.

And I imagine those very handles, were once part of a nice, straight handlebar. One with a tilt, but not too tilted. But I didn't know anything about that, mine had been wrecked and was leaning back.

I guess, what then showed to be a dented and out of date, steel framed bike-close to being junkpiled-was in fact at one time, new and scratchless, with a thick racing tube-nearly ready for the track. But I couldn't tell.

Honestly though...I didn't mind. I liked the little islands of rust, painted in. And who needed a fresh, white coat, when I'd just get it dirty anyway!?

I did wonder how the decals looked when they were sparkly and blue. All I could really see was a half, torn sticker on the top bar.

I bet whoever bought the bike, brought it home with the tires still having those tiny, rubber, flippy things on them. They'd be shocked if they saw the faded, blue tires I was riding on every day. The tires had a bald path, worn all the way around the center. And as surprising as this may sound, they never went flat. They made for a comfortable ride.

The seat was hard to take. The cover pad had been lost, or ripped off, when my cousin wasn't paying attention. And the cushion pad was a covering for a thin, steel plate. So whenever I wanted to sit down for a while, I would have to switch butt cheeks back and forth. But I wasn't the kid who'd go for a joy ride. I liked to go fast. And that seat was skinny enough to pedal over, going top speed.

The chain was a pain. It would stay on for a while, but then five minutes later pop off. And not just pop off, but completley pop off without a seconds warning, slamming me down. Let's just say, I got my fair share of chain changing in over the summers. But I got faster. At first, I started off by stopping and flipping the bike completely over, whenever it would come loose, but then I got to the point where I could put the chain on while I was standing up.