from Stanislaw Warda: My Bicycle Trip

My Bicycle Trip

I know I have to change my car. It’s already been 13 years since I
bought my Chevrolet Sonic. Although I like it very much, I have to think
about replacing it; at least, more responsible people think this way.
Others but not me. My problem is that all-new cars which I see do not
impress me, and when I compare them to my Sonic, all of them lose
this competition.

When I start to think about my reluctance to change, I come to
conclude that more than new cars, I enjoy fixing the old ones. The
source of it could be my childhood.

When I was child, I liked to repair my bicycle. I was younger than my
friends from our street, and I was not able to do everything. So, I was
very jealous and looked at them with admiration because they were
able to do everything like change a chain or repair a flat tire. The flat
tire repair was the most advanced of our group, and I was especially
jealous of it.

It became my obsession, so I decided to steal money from our store
and bought flat tire gear. It contained many devices and tools. I was
proud of it. I set up all this gear on the back of my bicycle and went for
a long ride to the forest which was close to our city. The road to the
forest was the best place to get a flat, so I hoped that soon I would be
able to use and repair the tire of my bicycle. Nevertheless, I was not
lucky that day. I was riding for a long time and, bad luck, all my bicycle
tires worked perfectly. I was so disappointed and angry that I could not
get my flat tire to use the fix gear.

After some time, when I got nervous, I got my “excellent idea “to use it.
I took out the nail which I found on some old board and, I got a flat tire
by myself on my bicycle. I sat on the side of the road, opened the box
with my flat tire gear, and started to repair it. I do not know how much
time I spent doing it; it was almost evening when I finished, but I was so
proud and so happy with myself that I was able to fix the flat tire. It was
the most spectacular bicycle trip I remember. After this repair, I felt so
good and equal with the older group of my friends.

I think this story from my childhood and my stupid, childish ideas
explains my reluctance to replace my car and encourages me when I
have to fix something in my old car, but I am afraid that I will not
handle it. At this moment, I say to myself, “as a child you repaired your
bicycle, so you can do the same now. I like this story despite the
stupidity of my childhood ideas.