Chopper, BMX, Dutch bike...BICYCLES!

History

American stand-up comedian M. Che once had me in stitches when he spoke of his mother struggling financially. She didn’t tell them that she couldn’t afford stuff she’d say things like” What! You got a D? You aren’t getting anything for X mas”, this would be in March and the punishment would last several X mases. (I have of course noted the gist of the story not the exact words).

Well my folks and his mum had that in common. Dad would rarely tell us about his financial situation. Once in a while he’d say stuff like “Tell your mother I don’t have any money”! But that, I assumed was him refusing to give her cash or telling us to go easy on the food. Usually it was food related.

My father whom I love very much had an” intéressant”  “ way of doing things especially when dealing with us. But like most kings/ authorities he had a weakness, an Achilles' heel, or a Magere’s shadow or a Samson’s hair.

Same myth different cultures, Luanda Magere belongs to the Luo, like Samson a woman destroyed him unlike Samson his strength was in his shadow, all she did was stab his shadow and voila!

Rumour has it that his, my dad that is, Magere’s shadow was me. I have no reason to contest nor claim this. Let us assume there is some truth in it.

                

The year is 198- and I am about 9 years old, I ask my dad to buy me a bicycle.

1. Our parents, well where I came from, never bought toys. They had too many responsibilities and you know black tax.
2. We made our toys from recycled stuff including footballs.
3. At that time no one in my estate /street,had ever owned a bike but a boy who didn’t live very far from us had one, an orange chopper .                                                                                    -Our Estate = Count roughly 18 houses,  5 kids per family . 
4. I didn’t know how to ride a bike. 
5. Asking my dad to buy me anything that wasn’t basic need related was like expecting to grow wings and fly. I mean it was simply unfathomable. I was never told so, I just knew it was.                                                                               You will need this later: 
6. We used to have family meetings.                                                                                                        They were meant to be a democratic meeting but were anything but. To be fair, raising several kids while having other dependents and a high stress job isn’t easy.                          For all I know maybe my parents would organize these thinking how we’ll chat and have constructive conversations only for one or three of us to get into trouble turning the meeting into a lecture/threat thing by parents and boredom to death by the day's innocent one(s). He would never mention the culprit by name, which is hilarious really and which coincidentally brought us closer as we’d silently break into strategies to defend each other. How? you may ask. Different ways depending on the case. 
   
   
   For example, at least two of us would look down at our feet showing remorse, one would definitely act like an Evangelist’s congregation almost raising their hands and yelling hallelujah, yes mhmmm while nodding vigorously etc. I hope you get the picture.                                                                                                  
7. A blackie: this actually became the reference for all adult bicycles.

I went to his room when he was winding down, i can picture us. Him seated on his comfortable chair me lying on his bed trying to act normal. I can't remember whether it was pre meditated, or whether the atmosphere led to it. Either way I can hear my heart beating loud in my ears, as it must have once I uttered those words. He was quiet for a long time, this part i remember, it wasn't necessarily un usual only this time he never really spoke and i was called to go have dinner.  I decided that he had opted to ignore me. I had dared, I could have gotten a worse reaction. I moved on and never mentioned it to him or anyone.

*6. Lo and behold, during the next meeting he said he had an announcement. I guess we had been good and there wasn't a need for a lecture that night. He then said that it had come to his attention that we wanted a bike. He wasn’t against it at all. But for one to get the bike they would have to be top 5 at least 3 times in a row.

Pause and laugh.

We walked out of the meeting and didn’t even speak about it. None of us would make it. We were a family of average students. The most motivated, who was above average, I doubt cared about bikes, the rest of us could have maybe tried but a bike just wasn’t enough motivation for the required effort. Yes, by then I hadn’t gotten totally bored with school but I also didn’t see the point of putting an extra effort! Plus, my brothers could borrow the chopper, right? and I had friends.

Long story short, I made it to top 3 several times in a row, I could have found the motivation but I think it was just a coincidence. What matters is that Isaac was in hot soup! He! Of you have to keep your word had probably not seen that one coming. None of us had. He could have feigned indifference, or forgetfulness. I never asked for it how could I when he’d at times lack money for school fees or transport and more importantly even if he put food on the table how many times had I heard him ask, already? Where did it go to? When asked for provisions. Or lecture us on the importance of appreciating what we had because we might not have it tomorrow when we complained or asked for something other than the usual Ugali/sima na mboga (read polenta and kales' cousin or sister?)

one of my favorites today!

He somehow got the bike. This is where my mother swears by Magere’s hair, shadow and heel. She believes he moved mountains. I think his boss was involved. Who cares? Dad came home parked the car, called me and my eldest brother then asked him to open the boot. Brother’s eyes popped for a second but I caught it. One thing we are good at is hiding our emotions, if we played poker….

 I couldn’t tell what he had seen. Definitely a dog. We all loved dogs. 

Then he took out MY BMX.

Let it be known that it was mine for those few seconds before hitting the ground. Where I grew up, the word mine didn’t exist we all shared stuff (“we” represents every family/ kid in my street).

We had to! Including cooking pans and shopping baskets. I kid you not. And no! I wouldn’t dream of a different childhood.

So, in all honor, my brothers pushed me and taught me how to ride our blue BMX. It took me about ten minutes to learn. Then the fun began. We had a bargaining power now. We no longer needed to hope chopper guy comes to our estate or negotiate for a few representatives to be allowed to ride the bike! Nope! We could even, if we wanted to, approach chopper guy’s buddies and have competitions! 

We’d all have turns. Lawd! we enjoyed riding that bike. The boys more than us because at times they would “run away” that was the term. Basically, instead of riding the 400m and bringing it back then passing to the next person, they would speed off and come back after an hour. It would bother us a little but we’d also just find something new to do. It was never that serious!

I lost interest in the BMX, I don’t know if we ever got other bikes, I can’t remember. 

Who came first the chicken or the egg? In my case the idea to cycle to work or the bike?

Years later, My son’s French relatives thought this was the saddest story ever and kept telling me to choose a bicycle and they would pay for it. All my son wanted was to cycle with me especially to school. Why you shouldn’t have kids by the way. This (my son!) motivated me but didn’t make me buy one. 

The year 201- A bike was born! or reincarnated 👥.

One of the best employers and mentors I ever had, chided me. You can’t be environment conscious yet you drive to work. C’mon J, walk the talk…He even took time to show me different options on maps. His wife made it worse by telling me that she was counting on me and I can do it because even she cycles for hours, never mind that she is a super woman and everything comes easy for her, or so it seems! She made it worse because this is one woman I admire, who played a focal role in my adult life yet she didn’t have to! Telling her no, plus over something that is good for me and the environment, me who is ever on people’s cases on matters environment related wasn’t going to be easy.

 I don’t remember which came first but I did buy a sturdy Dutch bike from a wonderful woman who I now consider a friend and my daughter believes is a fairy because of all the goodies she got from her. 

I started to cycle but rarely. It rains a lot and having kids to pick up and drop from different schools just makes one decide to make up for their carbon print differently. But on Wednesdays and weekends, when the weather allows, I often go cycling, more so now that the little miss can not only ride one but loves it. Seriously she’ll complain if you tell her to walk but can comfortably ride 5+kms.

I do love cycling, I wish I could cycle more. Interestingly I have 2 kiddie bikes in my yard. I had 3, I gave one out during X mas period. I thought I should try sell the other 2 at a bargain, use the money for my UTU project. I never managed to, I have tried to give them out, nada! Ps they are in tip top condition. I feel bad but hey that is the society we live in. I assume it is because people prefer to get their kids brand new bikes. Nothing wrong with that but it can be mind boggling for me!

Gem kids get to cycle, not all of them, not a lot. But once in a while you can get an adult who has a *7. blackie and when said adult is away the kids get to ride his/her bike. A rare but joyful opportunity.

 

Gem kids on a blackie