visas etc, I thought I would try to cheer myself up with some waffles on
a completely different subject.
If I have spoken to you in person since leaving the UK I have probably
mentioned my phonenix bike. Bought because of the delays with 'the
subject we shall not mention' but feeling that it also made me more
Tanzanian, the Phoenix bike has had more air time in our house than
several other issues of a more important nature.
Phoenix bikes are to Tanzania (and beyond I'm sure) what the Flying
Pigeon is to China. Alternatively phoneixs are to the African cyclist
what Toyotas are to the African motor industry (which maybe being
slightly rude to Toyotas, as you will see).
Phoenixs are everywhere, they are strong, they can carry your family
(adding to my list of a previous blog one can carry 15 trays of raw
eggs, a family of 4 - and only one of them was a baby - or 5 crates of
soda) and they can be fixed on any street corner. But let's get things
straight here, the phoenix has some issues. A typical phoenix has at
least one of the following features on a constant basis: brakes that
don't brake, pedals that don't turn, tyres that go flat on an almost
daily basis, headsets that come loose and seats that fall apart. And
that's the one I bought as new - still covered in plastic when it was
given to me. On this brand new bike the lights stopped working after 10
mins of use. There is always some noise coming from somewhere - a
squeak, rattle or groan - which is good as the bell packed up shortly
after the light did. The ones you see out on the road must be an average
of 20 years old (or that's how they look) with only a few essential bits
still functioning (at this point you need to lower your sights on what
is considered to be essential. Pedals are not. Sadles are only kind of
essential). They handle off road conditions (80% of my journey to work)
like banana skins on teflon. The geometry is such that you can't stand
up on the pedals to go up hills (they wouldn't even be considered as
hills on other bikes) and the handle bar bruises your thighs they come
so far back. They also weigh a tonne.
The phoenix leads me to talk of 2 other matters:
1. The bicycle fundi
2. How poor is poor?
Number 1 - men and the art of phoenix cycle maintenance
The bicycle fundi can be spotted from afar by the strategically placed
inner tube and track pump strung to the branch of a tree. Although often
they have gone off somewhere when you arrive, but they will come back.
Underneath the cloth on the floor you will find some spanners, some old
inner tubes, a pot of glue, a sheet of rubber, some matches and various
sizes of bolts, screws and other things that haven't featured on a bike
in the UK since... well ages. There will be some tyres around somewhere
that we would have thrown away, but here they have years left in them.
But these guys are good - they can keep what looks like a heap of scrap
metal being the family run about for years to come and are more
conveniently placed than most 7/11s. As long as it's a phoenix. A
typical price list for their services is as follows:
-pumping tyres - 10p
- puncture repair - 25p
- headset disassemble and reassemble - 50p
- pedal bearing clean and replace - 50p
Number 2 - for richer for poorer
OK, so given how atrocious I think the phoenix is to ride I was suprised
that it cost over 50 quid new. But I suppose they did bring it over from
China. But sometimes I try not to blurt out what I feel about it when I
have a decent cross bar and parcel shelf that aren't carrying the
aforementioned loads. Seeing these vacant seats people shout for lifts
as you go by (Mark and I tried it and it isn't easy, and we didn't
manage to go faster than walking pace anyway), people tell me to lock up
my bike very carefully in case it gets stolen,etc. All of this makes me
realise that even this torturturous form of transport to me is a) the
main form of logistics for people to get their goods to a place to sell
to make money to feed the family, b) the only form of transport other
than walking for many families, with possibly only one bike for the
whole family to use and c) still out of the financial reach of more
families.
So I will continue to moan about riding the phoenix until either a) I
can't be bothered to get it fixed again or b) my mountain bike arrives
in the freig.. (I nearly said it, but that would jinx it ever arriving).
But I am now aware that at least I am choosing to use this form of
transport over the motorised forms I can easily afford, so in the mean
time I will at least try to keeping the complaining in check and find an
appreciative home for the bird when she does get retired.
No comments:
Post a Comment