Empowered

One of the reason I adore cycling so much is that I find it tremendously empowering.

I am my own motor.  I am the reason I reach the top of the hill.  I am wild and free with the wind in my hair, pressing my feet to the pedal as I fly around town.

I am also my own mechanic, at least for the basics.  Computers and automobiles are a critical components of my life, but when something breaks down I cannot readily take them apart and fix it myself.  With my bicycle though it is different.  This is a mechanized tool that I can wrap my brain around.

Today I patched two holes in my bicycle tire made by this screw--the second screw I've run over in four months, I might add.  It had punctured through both sides of the tube.

My hands were black with grease by the end, but the whole thing took less than ten minutes and cost basically nothing.  It made me feel like a boss.  I got this!  And that feels really good.