Chapter
13
A Serialized Story of the
Not So Distant Future
April 17, 2005
Part Twenty
Getting up from the couch, Sam was a little disappointed to see that
it was barely 12:30. Since his Mom had gone back to work, the days
just seemed to crawl by.
He found himself out in the garage again staring at his father's bicycle. It's silly, he thought. I can just buy a brand new one in a day or so when my check comes in; but since there was nothing better to do, he pulled the dust laden bike out of it's spot where it was leaning against the wall and looked it over.
The tires were flat, and possibly rotted after all this time. Sam
didn't know much about how a bike actually worked, but he knew a can
of oil would be a good place to start.
His father had kept a workbench in the garage as well, and there was a whole section of it which had been dedicated to the bicycle. Neither Sam or Robbie ever really touched the workbench as kids, they knew that it was part of their Dad's memories, and Mom wanted it left alone.
Opening the drawers, Sam found a can of WD-40. A quick spray showed that it still worked. There were boxes of tubes for the bicycle as well, and a variety of tools, some of which Sam didn't recognize. There was no air pump though, Sam checked all the drawers and looked around the room, but it was nowhere to be found.
He decided to oil the bike first, and wheeled it onto an old tarp they had used for messy jobs. Sam chuckled when he touched the top bar of the bicycle, and realized that an air pump was snugly attached to the bicycle frame itself.
It took a few minutes to figure out the pump, but surprisingly the tires held air. Sam turned the bike upside down and sprayed the chain with WD-40. He turned the pedals, and the bike responded with a soft whirring of the rear tire. There were a couple of spots in the chain that were stiff which even the oil couldn't seem to loosen.
"Just like me," Sam said "everything works but your a bit stiff." He righted the bike and wheeled it out of the garage. He wondered for a moment if he was really ready to go bike riding yet, but decided not to worry about it. He tested the brakes, they seemed to be working well, and mounted the bike. The seat was too low, but that was fixed pretty easily.
He put his feet on the pedals and realized that they had some sort of foot clips. They were a metal harness with leather straps around the outside. He thought about removing them, but he really wanted to test ride the bike first. He got off and loosened the straps as much as they would allow. The leather was pretty stiff after so many years of non-use.
Once he wiggled his foot into the clip, he pushed himself down the alleyway and struggled to get his second foot in. He almost fell over as the bike lost momentum, and silently swore that he would remove these blasted things. He finally got his foot secured though, and pushed the pedals forward with a quick burst of speed.
The street he lived on sloped gently downhill, and the bicycle glided as smooth as glass down the street. It hiccoughed a few times while Sam was pedalling, he played with the gears until it settled down again. There was a feeling of flying here that reminded him of being out of body a few days earlier.
He rounded the corner, getting the feel of the bicycle. He let himself relax into it, and turning seemed almost an act of will rather than a physical manuever. He turned again, on to 78th St, which meant he would have to start climbing uphill to get home.
He tried switching gears, but the easier gears were giving him problems, something kept causing them to buck when he pedalled, switching back to a more difficult gear, he put every effort into climbing the gentle slope.
Raising himself up from the seat, he gently rocked the bike with his body as he pedalled his way upward. He quickly realized the value of the toe clips, as he was able to use the full range of his muscles to climb the hill. Before he knew it, he was making the turn back onto his own street and gently gliding to a stop at his house.
A little investigation showed that the bike's pedalling problems were being caused by the frozen spots in the chain. One of the spots had loosened up considerably, so Sam resprayed the other one, hoping it would loosen as well. Despite being a bit winded, he felt great and took the bike out for another spin.
The sights, sounds and even the smells of Brooklyn were wonderful to Sam. It was midday, so traffic was light and he glided with ease through most of the intersections. Without realizing it, he found himself within two blocks of the Bay Ridge Bikes, the store where he had gotten his own bike from as a kid. He decided to stop in (if it was still there) and see if there was something he could do about the chain.
Bay Ridge Bikes had a showroom in the front, and a repair area down the alley in the back. Sam glided to the back, and awkwardly dismounted after his foot got stuck in one of the clips. There was an oldies station playing out of the repair area, and there was a warm smell of rubber and grease in the air.
The repair area had changed very little over the years. There were all sorts of tires hanging from the ceiling, with sizes ranging from thick knobby mountain bikes to those as thin (or thinner) than Sam's. There was a cash register, and a plexiglass shield protecting it, the shield was covered with stickers from every bike manufacturer you could think of.
"Hello?" Sam said.
"Yes sir, may I-" The elderly man stopped in mid-sentence, dropping the socket wrench he had been holding, as he saw Sam standing there. with his bike.
"Are you ok?" Sam asked.
"Michael Quinn? I thought you were dead." The man's face was pale,
he looked reluctant to step any closer.
"Oh, no. I'm his son, Sam."
"Sam? Sam Quinn, I remember you, but it doesn't seem like that long ago. I'm Vinny, your father was a good friend of mine, but it couldn't be that many years, I mean your hair..."
"It's a long story," Sam said, "I was in a bad car accident."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Vinny said, "how are you feeling now."
"I'm recovering, thanks. Actually my physical therapist recommended that I start bicycle riding, so I got my Dad's old bike out, but I was wondering if I would be better off buying a new one."
"Well, there are some advantages to the newer technologies." Vinny said, "especially the newer chainless systems, but I remember this bike well, it was a fine machine. Let me take a look at her."
Sam passed the bike to Vinny, who suspended it from the ceiling and
began inspecting it.
"There's some frozen spots in the chain." Sam said.
"I see that, let me see if I can't loosen that up for you." Vinny sprayed some sort of lubricant on it and then wrapped an old cloth around the chain.
"You know, I sold your father this bicycle, and built him those rims as well." Vinny spun the front wheel, and tested the spoke tension with his fingers. "Looks like they've held up pretty well too, your Dad put a lot of miles on this bike."
"I can remember him riding when I was a kid."
"He was a great man your father, we used to ride together once in a
while. Did you know that he wanted to run for Congress?"
"No," Sam said, "I'd never heard that."
"He talked about it with me a couple of times, but he was afraid that he might have to comprimise his principles to win. Your father was a very moral man."
"You know, I remember him as a Dad, but I don't really know that
much about him." Sam said.
"You should read his old newspaper columns. He used to write for the Brooklyn Star when it was in business. The library would probably have them on microfiche. Your father really believed in the American Dream, and he hated those who abused it." Vinny turned the radio up and walked over to Sam, saying quietly: "He would be very disappointed in our world today."
Vinny unwrapped the chain, which looked shinier where he had sprayed
it. He flexed the frozen joints, which now moved freely.
"Wow, thanks." Sam said, "what do I owe you?"
"This one's on the house. In memory of your Dad." He said. "Here, you shouldn't be riding without a water bottle either." Vinny handed Sam a "Bay Ridge Bikes" water bottle. "Come by if you need anything."
"Definitely." Sam said. "It was great seeing you again."
Sam rode home, the ride was as smooth as glass. His legs were starting to ache, but it was the good ache of muscles being used. As he reached home, he saw Danny Smythe leaving his house.
"Hey Danny, how are you?"
"Fine." Danny said. "You're certainly looking better. You've
upgraded your wheels I see."
Sam laughed, "yeah, my physical therapist recommended biking. Hey,
you weren't at the last meeting were you?"
Danny smiled slyly, "I had to study for finals. My mommy wrote me a note." He added in a singsong voice; then he suddenly looked nervous: "I gotta be somewhere, so I'll see you later man."
"Yeah, sure." Sam said, wheeling his bicycle back into the garage.
----------------------------------------------------------
posted by John at 6:55 PM | link |
Sponsor
|
|
|
<< Home