Originally Posted by
steelbikeguy
The only folks who annoy me are the ones who refuse to learn the most basic maintenance skills; i.e. fixing a flat.
This.
I know a woman who is a couple years younger than I (me: laaaaaate 50s), and she owns both road and mountain bikes. Single - has been her entire life, and says she's fine with it. Fit as hell - looks the same as when I knew her in HS; she's petite, but strong - in the endurance sense. Hikes, runs, plays pickle-ball, does 3 or 4 types of yoga - been seriously pushing me to get into it. Knows I'm totally into cycling since my HS years until today, and it's kept me fit as well as providing an education in bike maintenance.
Her day job is a practicing Nurse Practitioner. She has a
side job she want to go mainstream with, thus leaving the medical field (after more than 35 years, she's about burned out). More on that shortly.
Both bikes have been standing on flats for three years. She always talks about taking them in for service and putting them to good use once again. Nice guy that I am, I've offered to get them running for her gratis, going as far as to explain my love of tinkering, and that exercise would be fun for me as well as beneficial for her. I even offered to show her how to do some of the basic maintenance. She hasn't taken me up on that, but okay. I've asked a few times - and provided practical reasons why any cyclist who may find themselves miles from home will likely, at some point, need to rely on basic maintenance skills in order to get home safely. In her case, she's even more vulnerable out there because she's a female. No judgement - it's just a simple fact that most men can overpower most women, therefor being self-sufficient enough to make basic repairs like fixing a tire on the road can mitigate that kind of risk. But
she's adamant that she can't do it, though she's admitted she's never given it a try. At this point, it's clear to me that she'll never do so, and also clear that the bikes will likely never leave her garage again - unless they're wearing little price tags on the bars at her next garage sale.
The kicker? The side job she wants to turn to for her second and final career?
Life Coach.
SMDH.
FD: We're just friends, and it'll stay that way; I've no ulterior motives, and she is well aware of that fact.
DD