what's missing from this picture? it's just me. without my bike!
one would think that a bike tune up is a good idea. but it's left me bikeless for what seems like a month now. and i'm going a little nutzo. it all started when i brought my bike into a little mom and pop bike shop. seemed nice enough, and i'm cool with supporting small business.
i got the bike back a week later and found that it had gotten a tune down. one of the gears no longer worked. so i brought it in a few days later. problem was they closed early. i can understand that, if i owned my own business, i'd probably close early on nice days too.
the next day i went in and there was only one person working. he was too new to know what to do. i figure i'd give him a break, it's probably his first job since he looked about 16.
so i came back the next day. this time i was greeted by a note on the door that read, "left early for health concerns. sorry for the inconvenience." that's understandable, health is a serious issue.
i'm a little tired of trying to come in every day so i take a day off. the next time i arrive things get real interesting. now there's a little note on the door that reads "be back in an hour. sorry for the inconvenience." there's no time on the note, so i'm unsure as to how long they've been gone, so i figure i'll wait a while. a father pulls up with his 12 year old kid, "they've been gone for like 3 hours," he says. this dad's all fired up, "we're going out of town and my kid needs his bike." i'm just like "that sucks," and i sit back down to wait out front. they walk to the side of the building, and when i look to see what they're doing, i was a little surprised. the father was being a great role model by trying to break into the back door. when he saw me, he immediately stopped and walked back up front. his kid was a quick learner and tried to reach in the mail slot to unlock the front door. daddy must have been so proud of him. they gave up and left. i waited around another 15 minutes, talked to some locals and then finally left.
my luck changed a little bit the next day in that i finally was able to get someone to look at the gear problem. they fiddled with it, i tested it and it was still busted. so i brought it right back in, before they closed early on me. they asked to keep it overnight. i was cool with that, just fix it.
today i walked to the shop to pick up my bike. oh look, another note, "closed early at 4pm. sorry for the inconvenience." i'll admit, it's a little funny that this keeps happening. but i really want to ride my bike again. so next time i may just have to bring it to a larger chain bike shop. sorry mom & pop shop, i don't want to go wal-mart on you. but i do enjoy stable store hours every once in a while.