Bicycle Maintenance

My bike hasn’t been running so smoothly lately. I took it to Duncan, the proprietor of ‘Dunx’, the shop where I bought it five years ago…

I value my bike… using it every day. I get on it without a thought… usually taking it for granted…

…I was chatting to Steve. Steve was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 35 years ago. Yesterday I learnt that resulting neuropathy has badly affected his feet… he’s known diabetic friends who’ve lost toes, feet…

I value my feet. I usually take them for granted.

Some parts need replacing… Duncan looked at my bike… ‘Your chain needs replacing… brake cables are worn out… back tyre’s in a poor state…’

It felt like I was at my doctor’s receiving test results… At Men’s Shed yesterday – Peter’s recently had a hip replacement, Keith’s recovering from a knee replacement, Bill needs surgery on his shoulder…

Perhaps bits of me need repairing, replacing…

Some parts are OK for now… Duncan told me some parts of my bike are OK for now… pedals, wheels, front tyre…  They still need to be monitored…

I mused on other parts of my life… My mental, spiritual, social wellbeing… how I maintain and monitor their health… how I discern if they need attention…

I needed an expert… I have very little expertise in bicycle maintenance. Duncan needed firstly to analyse my faults, and then have the capability to fix them…

Expert doctors, psychiatrists, educators and counsellors all have a vital role to play… I mused on the divine designer, creator, engineer, maintainer… how I value, appreciate and use his expertise… analysing, fixing…

I noticed the improvement… I collected my bike from Dunx yesterday and immediately felt the difference. The ride was smoother, easier… I appreciate and value my bike and Duncan’s expertise more now…

Musing on life… physical, mental, social, spiritual… All need regular maintenance. I appreciate further my divine maintenance engineer whose services I constantly require. When I use them, I notice improvement!