On Monday afternoon, after work, I took my bicycle out of the shed in the backyard of the place I used to live. Cobwebs had gathered on the handlebars and spokes, and the tires had gone flat from months of disuse. With no bike pump on hand, I walked the lumbering beast over to a gas station half a mile away. The air machine at the station only took quarters and cost a dollar for 2 minutes of pumping. I only had 50 cents in my wallet and no other cash so I went inside the station and asked the attendant if I could buy something and get cash back and get change for a dollar. He told me that they don't do cash back but he offered to just turn the pump on me on for me for free. I was grateful and bought a bag of Sunchips anyway. When I got outside, unfortunately the pump was not suitable for the kind of inner tubes that I have on my bike, and after wrestling around with the machine cord and trying to force the head of the pump onto my valve.
Slightly frazzled but ever determined, I continued on to Solano Ave. where there is a free bike pump on the sidewalk for anyone to use. On the bench beside the pump, there was a guy chilling and listening to a Lil Wayne mixtape on his Bluetooth speaker set. A lady working on a laptop sat across from the pump, at a table outside the nail salon. The guy listening to Lil Wayne asked me if he could assist with pumping my tires and I said I could probably handle it.
Once again, the free pump was not suitable for the type of inner tubes that I have. The lady on her laptop said “I have the same kind of bicycle and I need a special adaptor to inflate my tires. It’s called a Presta, I think.” She offered to call the bike shop further up the hill on Solano for me to see if they would be able to help me out. The guy listening to Lil Wayne said he would take his skateboard back to his spot to pick up a bike pump that he thought I might be able to use, but I told him not to worry. I thanked them both for the kindness and continued on my way pushing the bicycle up the hill to the bike shop.
When I finally made my way up the hill, the bike mechanic was very friendly and helped me right away, completely free of charge. I offered to pay for his services but he waved me away and said I was welcome to come back anytime to fill the air in my tires. While I waited for him to find a flat tire in the back that he could retrieve a new valve from (since I had bent mine while trying to use the gas station pump) he brought out a chicken for some reason, I guess it was his pet, and let a child who was there with his mother hold and pet it. It was extremely cute. I felt very fortunate and appreciative of all of the nice people who were willing to help me and extended their generosity toward me during my little misadventure.
The ride back to my new apartment was extremely relaxing and made me realize how much I had missed riding my bike around Berkeley. I have so many good memories of taking little leisurely cruises around the neighborhood and going back and forth to the office when I used to work in West Berkeley and exploring new bike trails throughout the city. I definitely want to get more use of my bicycle and create new memories on it while I'm still here.
The Bay area has been a good home to me, and I will miss it a lot. I can't believe I've been here for 14 years now. Aside from my childhood home, the time I spent in that little studio apartment in the backyard of my now former landlady’s house in Richmond California was the longest I had ever lived in one place. I do appreciate what I was able to accomplish while living there, and the independence it gave me, but this year was definitely the right time for me to move on. The past couple of years have seen a lot of growth and positive movement in my life. I very much look forward to moving back to Philadelphia and having a real home where my boyfriend and I and our cat and our soon to be born child will have plenty of space to stretch out and live and relax.