I take my bikes one at a time for mid-summer tune-ups.
I picked up the last one around noon.
I headed out straight from ‘The Shop.’
I had a great ride.
The day was perfect.
Not a cloud in the sky.
The bike rode as beautifully as the day.
I went far, far.
I found a nice spot to chill before I headed home.
I don’t really remember, but I must have touched something on my bike that had grease/oil on it.
Fresh from the tune-up.
I headed home.
It was hot.
I used my hand to remove a bug or two.
Wipe off sweat.
Itch.
That kind of thing.
The kind of thing I do on every ride.
When I got closer to the city, I began to see other people.
At a light.
A path.
A turn-off.
I kind of noticed that people stared at me.
Took a second look.
I did not think much of it.
But as I began to see more people, the more I realized everyone was taking a second look.
Everyone.
I even saw people looking at me from their cars.
I was dressed well, but haha, I always dress well.
When you dress confident, you ride confident.
I am now a few kilometres from home.
It was around this point that I noticed my fingertips on my left hand had grease on them.
I still did not think much of it.
It was at the very last light, the light closest to home, that I saw someone I knew.
They looked at me with the eyes of the emoji that has spiral eyes.
‘You might want to look in the mirror when you get home,’ he said, laughing.
It was then that I put it all together.
Every time I wiped sweat off my face, itched, or removed a bug, I was covering my face in grease.
‘Is it bad?’ I asked.
‘Uh, yeah,’ he responded.
I rode the last remaining bit home.
I was kind of excited to see how I looked.
Like, how bad it was.
Or…good.
I got home.
OMG
It was bad.
Like bad, bad.
Different shades.
Smears.
Marks.
Lines.
I rode home not knowing I was a character straight out of a ‘Mad Max’ film.
But here is the thing.
I thought I looked good.
‘Mad Max’
Insert spiral eyed emoji here.
‘There is another way to ride.’