My Bike

This post is about my bike. Now, that the snow has gone and the weather is warm I have been riding again. It was something that I missed all winter when the snow got to bad. My bike is an American bike that I found second hand in a Japanese bike shop in Morioka. Even getting it home was an adventure. I bought the bike and took it to the Morioka train station to take back to Ichinohe. (This is in the first few months we were here mind you.) I get there in time for the last train. The conductor tells me that I can't take the bike on the train. I have to take it apart and put it in a bag. I tell him ,"I'm the English teacher in Ichinohe. This is the last train. I can't go to a bike shop now and get a bag. Please let me on." A drunk man comes up and talks to the conductor. He says that if I take the bike apart he, Samantha, and I can take a piece on and then its not a bike. So, we take off the front wheel and the seat. Then the drunk tells the conductor that its ok and just motions for me to keep moving carrying the frame and hide the bike in the back of the train. Thats how I got my bike home.

I ride my bike every day for about an hour to work and back. In the mountains it's a great ride that is absolutely breathtaking. I also go to Ninohe on it for things like donuts and DVD rentals on the weekends. I really like the bike more than any car I have ever had. Car people always talk about feeling the road. Well there is no feeling the road like on a bike. Every rock, every change in road texture is felt and has to be understood. As for the feeling of speed, yes you don't go as fast but there is something about knowing you are producing all the speed you have. Also, what powers the bike gets stronger the more I ride not weaker. Then there is the bike itself. I like bikes because I understand the parts better. Cars are complicated and only getting more so with the on board computers. The age of the shade tree mechanic is ending, but in a year of use I have yet to have a bike problem I haven't been able to repair.

Now, hauling stuff on the bike is a bit of an adventure sometimes. Food is pretty easy, either grocery bags off the handle bars or my back pack. Some things though aren't that simple. For, example the picture at the top of this post. I had to bring a roll of butcher paper home to paint Christmas play sets on. Now, the easy thing would have been to have a car person bring it to me. I took another path. I got twine and lashed it to my bike frame so that I could ride home from Chokai. It survived a 30 minute mountain ride with no problems. One of my goals this summer is to try and ride to the Prefecture Capital, Morioka, which is on 63 kilometers from here.