Your humble Psychlepath nearly met his maker last week after taking his machine to a repair shop for the first time. After an initial inspection proved that the back tyre had been replaced, i took to the roads once again, invigorated by the newness of my wheels and a decision to support small shops.
Approaching Old St roundabout barely two minutes from the shop i started to overtake my seventh cycle in as many seconds when the back wheel of my bike literally fell off and i stumbled into the path of a truck on the roundabout. All the scooters, taxis and cycles i'd ever overtaken flashed before my eyes before i was able to move out of the way.
When eventually i managed to make it back to the repair shop with cycle on shoulder, the formerly amenable proprietor unbelievably gave me a long look of distrust and resentment as i stood once again in his shop, trying to stymie the expletives aching to fall out of my mouth. Perhaps he thought i enjoyed falling in front of trucks because of his spannering.
Moral - Don't take your cycle to Citibikes, Hackney Road if you wish to live longer than your next journey.
#21 November 2006 | Comments (3)