Bike Blunders

Leaving work the other night, my bike was parked in (yes it happens to bicycles too), and somehow in the process of trying to get out, I managed to drop not just my own bike but in picking it up, knocked over the red one and then trying to quickly stand that one back up knocked over the blue one too!!! A trio of bike blunders!  Hopeless!  Of course I did the quick look-over-the-shoulder each time to make sure no one else was watching this foreigner’s embarrassing fails, and lucky for me they weren’t.

This is an example of an experienced Japanese rider successfully maneuvering around on her bike in a long skirt.

The following story is an example of a ‘gaijin’ who should probably have training wheels and a helmet, or better yet should just be in the child’s seat on the back of a real adult’s bike!:

Getting ready to spend the day with her new Japanese friend, this white girl thought she would dress up nice and wear the only long skirt/dress she brought with her from Australia – a black, pleated, flowy ankle length skirt that she loved. Quickly dismissing thoughts that riding in it might be hazardous because she could just position it carefully around her legs, she put her outfit together and smiled at herself in the mirror. Setting off across town in the morning sun she was happily riding along leisurely until suddenly she feels her skirt rapidly growing tighter around her hips and feels her bike jolting to a complete stop to the sound of ripping material! Just managing not to stack it, the girl squealed out of fear and looked pleadingly at the shocked Japanese lady who had just seen the whole disaster on wheels.  Her lovely long flowy skirt was now a wound up mess around the spokes in the bike, with the back seam torn down. Luckily the skirt had layers so her bright pink undies weren’t on display as she expected when turning around to assess the damage on her derriere. The onlooker was kind enough to come over to help the girl but to no avail, the skirt was surely stuck. After 6 more amused men and women came to the girl’s rescue and 10 humiliating minutes, she was back on her bike with her long skirt tied in a knot – thanks to the man who gestured this genius advice. She quickly fled the scene with her bruised ego & bleeding ankle. Dickhead.

I can’t read Japanese but I believe this could be a parking fine that says something like “Don’t leave your bike out the front of the convenience store for 3 days while you’re off travelling, we know it’s free but now you have to pay this penalty”.
Pleading ignorance on this one!