Day R5: To Sell A Motorcycle

June 6, 2022 to June 7, 2022

Necessary Reconnaissance

Who could have imagined that this reconnaissance would be so glorious. It was amazing bicycle riding weather, hot and sunny. As well, the awesome feeling of gradually increasing the bike distances and making up for all that time cooped inside for months was indescribable.

However, this was also the onset of PTSD syndrome that would end up lasting for many years. Sadly, I knew this was coming. There was a constant sense that the biking would be short lived and we'd end up going back into lockdown in future. So we might as well enjoy whatever sunshine was possible before this happened. Another aspect of the PTSD was not believing that this freedom was happening or that it could be somehow secured long term.

As another outlet, I ended up belting out voice message after voice message to trusted friends and telling them all how I felt from the lockdown while on today's bike ride. That combined with the riding started chipping away at the PTSD, or maybe it was just a coping mechanism? Regardless, it was the beginning point of really believing that I had what it takes within me to create me own destiny. There is no need to always feel like this depression in the long term. Something can be done about this.

This was part of two months worth of sorting of old materials that ended up being copied and digitized. This was part of a major lockdown project. Throwing this part in the trash today was a step in the right direction.

The purpose of today's ride was to head out to the suburbs and re-establish contact with a local guy who repairs, buys, and sells motorbikes. I had purchased a motorbike a long time ago but it kept breaking down. There were some amazing memories on it before, but now I hardly had a chance to ride it these days. So I figured that it made much more sense to just get rid of it.

But I had to wonder, would my contact even still be in business after all this? He had survived many crackdowns on motorcycles earlier, so there was a good chance. He had to relocate so far out of the city because the cops busted his former motorcycle repair shop downtown. Let's see what today would bring.

This was not a queue for covid tests, it was to get into the bank. No doubt people had a ton of backlog to catch up on.

She went down hard. Sadly, many people just rode on by. This has always been the way it is in China, but made worse with covid. I was able to call an ambulance but couldn't do much else. If I tried to help her up, no doubt I would get blamed.

Arrived to the recon point. Amazed to see the place not just back in business but thriving

Once at the recon point, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The front gate was of course barricaded and you had to go around to the back where there were QR codes to scan. My recent covid test allowed me entry. Inside the compound I saw thriving motorcycle repair shops among others, and my contact was exactly where he was last time. I had a nice chat and he was just as surprised to see me as I was him. He explained that, yes they were all locked down for those two months also. They were trying to catch up on business like everyone else. He helped pump up my bicycle tires and said yes, please bring the motorbike on in and we'll take a look at it. That'll happen next week.

Before that I want to make sure the motorbike still exists. If it does, that'll involve a complex operation of loading it onto a flatbed truck and delivering to this address. My contact said no worries about needing to come along, he'll help unload it and then give me a call about what's next.

Many mechanics and shops at work. Great to see this

And down went the scooter. The frequency of these kind of accidents increased a lot after lockdown. People are not focused obviously.

The bike ride back was very smooth. My buddy was lounging on the steps of a coffee shop downtown where I would meet him next. He told me he had been approaching random girls on the street the whole afternoon I was biking. In normal times that wouldn't work but now just after the lockdown he managed to get a ton of phone numbers. Very enterprising guy I'll give him that. He managed to line up a date with one of those girls who is a fitness guru and personal trainer. Surely the timing is perfect for doing something like this, as everyone is desperate for freedom, myself included.

The next day was an attempt to find out if the motorbike was still where I left it. It had been stored underground in my former compound for years actually. I only took it out for occasional rides. The big question is if I would even be allowed in the former compound, and if so, whether the motorbike would have been removed or not.

Amazingly I got into the old compound with no issues and even found the place the motorbike was well hidden underground. The tricky part is that due to covid they turned off the elevators that go directly above to the street. This means that unless there's some miracle and the engine starts up right away, I'll need to push the motorbike up a long incline. It could be sweaty and exhausting slow, hard work. Frustrating, but possible.

These houses were no longer sealed off but as usual they were reluctant to part with the barriers. Funny how they didn't hesitate to install them.

As the months went by, however, I got busy with other things and the motorcycle stayed underground. Much later I made a bicycle ride back to this shop and the guy had changed his tune. "Sorry I don't want to look at the motorbike anymore, it's too risky this business and there are more and more cops cracking down." I asked him if he wanted to buy and he said he didn't want it.

It was sad to hear this, but not entirely unexpected. This reinforced my thinking that it was time to leave China entirely. Parting with a motorbike that I hadn't ridden for recent years was only one more logical step in the process. I began to think of all the memories and when it was actually possible to ride this thing all over town. The loss of this hobby was only the loss of many other things that happened once China went in the wrong direction after around 2016 or so.

It was about late 2023, much later than this journal entry, I devised a plan to get rid of the motorbike entirely. It amounted to simply unlocking it in the compound, sticking the key in the ignition, and leaving it there for whoever wanted to take it out. I managed to sneak into the compound and wear a torque to avoid any facial recognize cameras on the way to the underground hiding spot. (unlikely they would spot me anyway).

If anyone does want the motorbike they'll have to push it out and do all sorts of work to get it running, most likely they'll send it off to the scrapyards and save me the work of doing that.

Today's ride: 56 km (35 miles)
Total: 332 km (206 miles)

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