With deepest apologies to Britney Spears, I have managed to ‘do it again;’ the ‘it‘ in this case being an extremely pricey bike crash.
Fortunately, perhaps, with typical self-absorption I’d forgotten how badly my ASTUTO VASARA bicycle was affected by the accident. The crash occurred in early November 2025.
Following the crash, I rode the bike roughly 100 kilometers, and took it on the train, but hadn’t focused on its damage.
Subsequently, I was so caught up in my pain, recovery, and then the holidays, that I basically forgot all about it.
I broke my leg in the accident and finally started rehabilitation last night. As the physiotherapy clinic is close to Bicycle Village Tama, my local bike shop, I decided to ride the damaged bike to physio and then drop it off for repairs before walking home.
What a blue that was! I’ve ruined the cassette and derailleur, so the bike was stuck in its hardest gear, which made pedalling tough, doubly so because of my neighborhood’s hilly terrain.
And if going up hills wasn’t chilling enough, going down was sheer terror, heightened by the broken spokes on both wheels and midwinter-affected arthritis that left me petrified of being unable to stop, or doing so too suddenly.
I was frozen not just by the temperature, but fear. The bike rattled, rumbled and wobbled as we rolled downhill with my emotions mirroring its performance.
Cold and darkness compounded the situation.
Fortunately, I made it to physio and then the bike store with no major issue. And then I got the estimated repair bill.
The quote was perhaps the most chilling part of a frightening night. I couldn’t proceed without permission.
Mrs. Kangaeroo reckons the bike is cursed, as I built it at a cost several times higher than initially calculated, it got stolen then returned months later because the thief couldn’t get rid of it, and then it was involved in the worst calamity of my cycling experience.
Further outlays are not going to go down well in the Kangaeconomy.
Anyway, I made it home safely and have to decide what to do with the bike. Was still one of the worst 2 kilometer rides in my bloody life!
* Photos from the Kangaeroo.com media library
