I am convinced that if God calls me home while I live in Costa Rica, it will not be because of an earthquake, a tsunami, a shark bite, malaria (or any mosquito carried disease for that matter), or being kid-napped by a band of evil misfits that wants to sell me on the black market as I had thought it would be before I moved here. It will be because I was peacefully riding my bike down the rode and one of those crazy honking drivers took me out!
Riding a bike is the most dangerous thing you can do here, yet it's the most common thing you will see on the streets of Jaco. You would be amazed at how talented these Costa Rican bicyclers are. Bikers in the States are super lame compared to these Tico's. In the States you deck yourself out in snazzy bike gear spending 100's if not 1000's of dollars on your bike and gear, while turning your nose up at us casual bike riders. You ride in your packs of 6-12 riders taking up the whole road like you own the place, and park at the cool local "bike" hang out spot flaunting your not so cute spandex outfits (sorry if you think you look cool, somebody needed to tell you the truth) surrounding yourself with other people who also think their spandex outfits are super cute. Unlike US riders, Tico bike riders, ride because that is their actual mode of transportation. They wear normal clothes, buy used WWII era bikes that don't have all the expensive do-dad gears that basically allow you to exhale and the bike pedals itself. Uncle Pete's got a watermelon on each knee and huge box full of groceries on the back, oh and there's a baby balancing on the front wheel guard another little tike sitting on the handlebars, cousin Maria on the pegs, while her 4 year old nurses with no hands...no hands (thats succion!), and (listen to this US riders) they actually follow the rules of the road. The Costan Rican rules of the road which are quite different than in the States, never the less they follow them! Pablo does all the texting for the family, easy to do when he is sitting spider with Pete. They are real bike riders.
I didn't want to spend tons of money on our bikes, but was wanting to buy bikes from this little local bike shop that carried quality bikes. Penny Pincher was hesitant to buy them from the local shop because bikes were sold at Maxi Palli (the local Wal-mart-ish store) for cheaper. I look for quality over price, and PP looks for price over quality hands down every time, we are complete opposite!! The good thing is, it really depends on the situation and I'm glad together we can be balanced. Although for this scenario, sweet penny pincher Jeff should have listened to his wife's insight, especially since these bikes would be our main mode of transportation :)
We ended up buying the bikes from Maxi Palli. From the get go it was...interesting. The bikes didn't even have enough air in the tires to get home, and the store couldn't find an air pump that actually worked. Really??? Then everything was so loose we had to get the manager to hunt down (only took about 30 minutes) a special tool to tighten all the bolts, including the handle bars that literally kept flopping around, the seat that wouldn't stay put, the chains that kept falling off...mind you this was all in the parking lot of Maxi Palli before we even left the store with our new bikes...awesome. Anyways we finally get on our way with Gentry on the back of me cause we have had trouble finding a bike for his size.
On the way home I drove over a speed bump and knocked G a little off balance which sent the back of his heel into the spokes of my back tire...again awesome. Thankfully he had on his nike's and the brunt of the trauma damaged his shoes, or else we would have had a bloody mess on our hands! He survived with minimal scratches on his heel and leg but refused to ride on either of our bikes after that. Understandable. In the days to come we watched our bikes fall further and further into disarray. Jeff's chain fell off while he was riding to the beach, my chain fell off when Jeff borrowed my bike cause his wasn't working (maybe God is teaching Jeff to listen to his wife since all of the major mishaps happened while he was on the bikes going to surf), the handle bars went nuts again, the reflector lights fell off, the seats wouldn't stay still, and they make quite hilarious noises while riding. We finally took the bikes in to a local bike shop and said "fix every single little thing that could even possibly, maybe, you have ever heard of going wrong on a bike" and for the most part they did, although they still make noises and the chain has fallen off Jeff's bike since then (there's your sign Jeff). Overall they are better, but next time we will be investing in bikes that make our life easier, not more like a freakin cartoon!!
On days I get to ride my bike, (which isn't too often yet because we are still on the hunt for a bike for Gentry, and we are a little hesitant to take him on a bike because of the crazy driving and non-existent speed limits) I absolutely love it, except for the occasional brush with death from the honkers of Jaco. It's one of the only times I actually feel cool. As long as I am riding, I feel a cool breeze on face, wind blowing through my clothes, and a little bit like I rule the world :) My utopia is occasionally interrupted because I hear ducks quacking...oh wait that's just the sound my bike makes, never mind back to my happy place. The coolness of course comes to an abrupt stop the minute I slow down and let the humidity catch up with me, but for those brief minutes that I'm riding down the road on my bike, I feel like "I'm King of the World!!!" you know that Titanic kinda feeling. I'm pretty sure one of the reasons my bike rides are so invigorating is because I'm always on my own when I'm on my bike. G doesn't have one yet, so he and Jeff are at home if I'm on my bike. I like the quietness. I also like the feeling that I'm settling in enough to ride my bike around on my own. It reminds me that this is my new home, I can run errands here just like back home, I know my way around town just like back home, and I feel secure enough in this new place to be out on my own without my body guard Jeff just like I did back home (except at night when the low lives of the world are out preying on women, can't wait to run one of them over with my bike, the last things those jerks will hear will be the sound of ducks, they will never know what hit them!) :) It's a good feeling when I am on bike!
Our bikes have baskets on the front which is ridiculously awesome, and I am on the hunt for a basket I can put on the back to be able to carry more from the grocery store. I also imagine strapping Molly Paws to the back with a helmet and goggles just for the fun of it. How awesome would that be!!! All in all we are loving life on bikes, and not having a car is only mildy annoying at this point!
We ended up buying the bikes from Maxi Palli. From the get go it was...interesting. The bikes didn't even have enough air in the tires to get home, and the store couldn't find an air pump that actually worked. Really??? Then everything was so loose we had to get the manager to hunt down (only took about 30 minutes) a special tool to tighten all the bolts, including the handle bars that literally kept flopping around, the seat that wouldn't stay put, the chains that kept falling off...mind you this was all in the parking lot of Maxi Palli before we even left the store with our new bikes...awesome. Anyways we finally get on our way with Gentry on the back of me cause we have had trouble finding a bike for his size.
On the way home I drove over a speed bump and knocked G a little off balance which sent the back of his heel into the spokes of my back tire...again awesome. Thankfully he had on his nike's and the brunt of the trauma damaged his shoes, or else we would have had a bloody mess on our hands! He survived with minimal scratches on his heel and leg but refused to ride on either of our bikes after that. Understandable. In the days to come we watched our bikes fall further and further into disarray. Jeff's chain fell off while he was riding to the beach, my chain fell off when Jeff borrowed my bike cause his wasn't working (maybe God is teaching Jeff to listen to his wife since all of the major mishaps happened while he was on the bikes going to surf), the handle bars went nuts again, the reflector lights fell off, the seats wouldn't stay still, and they make quite hilarious noises while riding. We finally took the bikes in to a local bike shop and said "fix every single little thing that could even possibly, maybe, you have ever heard of going wrong on a bike" and for the most part they did, although they still make noises and the chain has fallen off Jeff's bike since then (there's your sign Jeff). Overall they are better, but next time we will be investing in bikes that make our life easier, not more like a freakin cartoon!!
On days I get to ride my bike, (which isn't too often yet because we are still on the hunt for a bike for Gentry, and we are a little hesitant to take him on a bike because of the crazy driving and non-existent speed limits) I absolutely love it, except for the occasional brush with death from the honkers of Jaco. It's one of the only times I actually feel cool. As long as I am riding, I feel a cool breeze on face, wind blowing through my clothes, and a little bit like I rule the world :) My utopia is occasionally interrupted because I hear ducks quacking...oh wait that's just the sound my bike makes, never mind back to my happy place. The coolness of course comes to an abrupt stop the minute I slow down and let the humidity catch up with me, but for those brief minutes that I'm riding down the road on my bike, I feel like "I'm King of the World!!!" you know that Titanic kinda feeling. I'm pretty sure one of the reasons my bike rides are so invigorating is because I'm always on my own when I'm on my bike. G doesn't have one yet, so he and Jeff are at home if I'm on my bike. I like the quietness. I also like the feeling that I'm settling in enough to ride my bike around on my own. It reminds me that this is my new home, I can run errands here just like back home, I know my way around town just like back home, and I feel secure enough in this new place to be out on my own without my body guard Jeff just like I did back home (except at night when the low lives of the world are out preying on women, can't wait to run one of them over with my bike, the last things those jerks will hear will be the sound of ducks, they will never know what hit them!) :) It's a good feeling when I am on bike!
Our bikes have baskets on the front which is ridiculously awesome, and I am on the hunt for a basket I can put on the back to be able to carry more from the grocery store. I also imagine strapping Molly Paws to the back with a helmet and goggles just for the fun of it. How awesome would that be!!! All in all we are loving life on bikes, and not having a car is only mildy annoying at this point!
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| Meet El Pato Rosa (The Pink Duck). She is pretty cute/fierce don't you think? |
1 comment:
I absolutey love this!! You are a great writer and I can totally picture the scene. Hope you and the fam are stellar!
-Jonce
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