I've got much to learn!

You know how they say that you can learn something everyday? Well, what they didn't tell you was the "how".

I've been driving many years now and have owned several cars along the way, each with its own peculiar characteristics. There was the little Suzuki which liked to get her battery drained when I forgot to switch off the headlamps, or to get hot and thirsty in the middle of the road and let off loads of steam. Then there was the VW that decided that it was winter in Singapore and refused to cool down the cabin. The fantastic Alfa Romeo whose electric windows decides that my index finger needs a little more exercise by refusing to close with a single touch, requiring me to pull that lever once for each inch of travel...you get the idea. I'd like to think that I've experienced enough on-road mechanical, electrical and electronic failures to be able to deal with this easily...with a single phone call to the emergency response service...until today.

You see, today I was out on the roads, happy as a lark, on my way to meet a nice fella who was willing to show me his new bike. It is a Derbi Terra 125. A class 2B bike that had killer looks, off-road credibility AND could handle the highway easily. It sounds like the ultimate class 2B bike to my ears. No, he isn't selling it. I just wanted to see and feel it for myself if it really existed. But I digress...

So anyway, I was on my way to meet this chap...and suddenly my bike decides that he wanted to stop working. The throttle would not respond and the motor simply stopped. Very similar to how the engine would stop when I ran out of petrol. So I looked at the odometer and saw that I travelled less than 80 miles from the last fill up...that was strange...my bike normally gave me 90-100 miles before hitting reserve! So I put him onto the reserve tank and tried to re-start with the electric start. No deal. I tried to kick start. No deal. I shook the bike left and right (so the petrol can move over to the left side of the tank cos that's where the valve is. Tried again. No deal. And then I realized...I have no emergency response service to call!

The good news is that there was a petrol station with a bike repair service about 1.5km away. The bad news is that I needed to push my bike there...and it is uphill for the first kilometer along Yio Chu Kang Road! Another piece of good news...weather was cool (thanks to the rain)...another piece of bad news...I was in my rain gear...which means, t-shirt, shorts, rain liner top, rain liner pants, jacket, riding pants, riding boots. It was HOT and HEAVY!

Anyway, eventually I got the bike to the shop and the nice chap looked it over. Tried the electric start. No deal. Then he tried to kick start...and the bike came to life! Turned out it was a simple battery problem. He told me that I could have called and they would come change the battery for me...too bad I did not have their number! Also, too bad I didn't know how to do a kickstart properly...I thought I did because I did it before...several times too...but obviously...I have much more to learn.

So yeah...its true what they say about how we learn something everyday. I learnt today that no matter how experienced I am, something new can always happen to make things more interesting. What I really learnt was...that there is no escape. someone up there knew I needed to exercise after last night's dinner...and made sure I did it!