endless kindness

I was riding around on my bike Wednesday afternoon when I passed by a mechanic sitting outside of Honda Motors working on a scooter.  I smiled at him and he smiled back so after I passed him I decided to turn around and go back.  It was in the area by the shipyard and I knew that there was a bike shop around there somewhere but I was not exactly sure where and I figured he would be a good person to ask since he seemed friendly.

I rolled up and said hello and then asked him where the bike shop was, explaining that I was maybe a bit too tall for the handle bar / seat height that Felix was currently sporting.  He started to say that it was over by the traffic light and then asked me to hold on a second and goes inside the shop.  He comes back out with some tools and starts fiddling with my bike, raising handle bars a little and the seat a fair bit (both to the limit).  Then he starts checking the tire pressure and puts some more air in!

The real kicker was when he got some spray lube for my chain and then checked out the gears.  Yeah plural.  Apparently my bike, since it is a "family bike", actually does have gears, they are just inside a bit of casing by the rear wheel of my bike.  So I've got three gears now!  It makes sense that those hills are so wicked now that I know I've been riding around in third this whole time.

Regardless of any of the negative things that could be said about people here there is no denying the incredible kindness and helpful nature of people out here in the countryside.  I am sure that knowing who I was had some influence on the situation (the mechanic explained to a police officer who stopped by that I was an English teacher at the junior high), but I still think that it is pretty remarkable how kind and willing to help out everyone has been.  The little adjustments he did made a woorrrld of difference on my ride too.  Pretty wonderful.

ridin' easy in the future,

-greg.

ps: oh i also threw up some Hiroshima pics.  check them out in the usual place.  there is an album on the right which has an actual order to the fotos as opposed to the randomness of the photostream.  anyway, enjoy!