So, I was biking to work this morning, and while I was riding across the bridge, something happened to the bike. The pedals twisted, and turned they were angled the wrong way, I could tell they were no longer straight. I figured they got a little loose and I would simply fasten them back on when I get home, and I continued forward. I went past a mom and a little girl, both on their bikes, who were pedaling carefully together. Then my chain fell off. Annoyed, I grabbed a glove that I keep on my bike at all times, grabbed the chain, and fastened it back on. It's a common thing for my bike to drop the chain, it's something I repeatedly have to dismantle it for and fix, and now the pedals were weird too. I hopped back on, started pedaling, and then the back wheel fell off the bike.
I am not joking, in mid-ride, my bike split into two pieces, back wheel fell off, the bike fell apart, under me, while I was driving it. The mom and little girl behind me caught up to me just in time to witness this, and all three of us just stared in shock in two pieces of bike on the ground that were, seconds before, carrying me to work.
I gasped and laughed in pure shock, feeling dizzy because that is a wild thing to happen. The mother looked concerned and I reassured her that I was fine, I was going slow and was able to just step away from the bike before it crushed to the ground. We stood there in shock for a few seconds, and then I asked 'Well, is there any trash container nearby, I can't leave it here', and she offered to help me carry a piece of it to the nearest trash disposal. The reasn why the bike broke into two became obvious once I inspected it – the metal base broke into two. I have noticed before that the base had some kind of a crack in it, but I didn't think it was a serious issue – the bike still worked, it didn't make any funny noises, I felt good and stable on it, would one expect it to break into two? No. But it was the only possible logical ending to it.
I got a great adrenaline high that morning, first the bike broke into two, which is in my opinion, the best possible way for a bike to go. If there was anything less final wrong with it, I would be fixing it endlessly, refusing to accept that it was over, despite the bike having million of issues and being older than me probably. Then next, I met the great woman who helped me carry it to the trash! She was so sweet and kind to help me, at 8am, while I was crashing on the sidewalk. And the last good thing was that I knew there was no fixing the bike, I wouldn't spend countless hours trying to make it work, it was definitely over.
I left the bike next to the trash, deciding to go back after work and savage the little basket it had, and maybe to collect some parts, like the chain or the bell. I was a little late to work, and I felt like my reason was pretty funny, so I came in and said 'Sorry I'm a bit late! My bike broke into two on my way here!' and I laughed it off feeling thrilled about my adventure. The woman I work for looked at me absolutely horrified, and I laughed more and reassured her I was not upset or injured, and instead had a great time during this fun event.
'You could take my bike.' She suggested, and I laughed this off too, saying I can walk home, it wasn't that far (I did not confess to people at work that I had a neck injury or that I can't walk far). However she said that she had a bike she wasn't using and I could have it, and I shrugged and said well okay, and she went to fetch it.
I still was not taking her very seriously, because acquiring another bike is a serious issue for me, and I never expected someone would just, give me one, but when she came back she explained I could just have it. I assumed she meant 'borrow until I got a new one', but she said 'no I'm not using it', and insisted I should take it. That was a bit surreal for me and it took me a while to adjust to the idea of just getting a new bike for free. It wouldn't be the kind of bike I wanted, but there would be no financial consequences to my bike breaking, which is amazing.
After work, I got to see my new bike! It was in one piece, which is its best feature compared to my old bike. But, otherwise, it is a kind of bike I would never volountarily buy; it has multiple speeds, which makes it difficult to pedal. It's also not made for carrying much weight, which I need a bike to do, for gardening purposes. But, I would never go and criticize a free bike! I could always decide to buy another bike for gardening, this bike is mine now, and it works, and it's so much more functional that my old bike, it's chain doesn't drop, it doesn't have a broken base, the pedals are facing the correct way. What a great thing to have!
I checked in on my old broken bike, it was still there, next to the trash. I tried to dismantle the little basket, and realized I couldn't do it without tools. I decided to bike quickly home, get tools, and then dismantle the usable pieces. My new bike didn't have a working bell, or the way to hold a bag on the back wheel, and I wanted to see if I could transfer it from the old bike to new.
I got back in 20 minutes or less, and my old bike, was gone. Someone already grabbed it to salvage the parts. I wasn't mad, I left it on the trash, it was in two pieces, it was absolutely fair game. I was a bit relieved, because I felt awful disposing of it in such un-proper way, just leavin it next to the public trash containers. It was great that someone found use of it so immediately! Even if they took my little basket, and my little bell that still worked. I hope they cherish those parts, as I did.
I think that bike was the greatest bike in the world. I loved it so much. I had tons of trouble with it, I was always dismantling and fixing it. I ruined some parts of it, and knew it had an expiration date. I learned so much about fixing bikes while working on it. I learned so much about life and how difficult it can be without a bike, when you can't walk for long. It gave me so much joy riding it around. It was lightweight, with huge wheels that made it so easy to get around. It never tired me out.
I was aware it was an old, used, and close-to-its-end bike, so I usually never took it out to go to trips or for fun times. But I did yesterday. I was inside for too long and I decided to take the bike out and just go around the city, and then ride next to the river for a while, collect some wild flowers. It was the best of times we had together. Now it's going to be my favourite memory of it, our last trip together. Except of course, the breaking in half, that was too iconic to forget. I truly used that bike until the last second of its life.
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