How I Became Famous By Cycling in the Snow.
World has become too small to fit in a park.
When weather conditions are bad I go cycling with my folding bike; because she has mudguards for both wheels. By bad conditions I mean fall what makes bikes dirty. I decide to ride my folding bike especially in snow. With her twenty inch wheels I feel myself safer from slipping and she is small so it is easier for me to control.
On a heavy snowy day I went out cycling. It was freezing, streets were closed and there were ıcy grounds here and there. None of them stopped me cycling. But it was too hard to ride on thick snow and also dangerous. I turned my way to park where I can avoid from traffic. I love wondering around in parks on winter. All the beautiful spaces become vacant.
Park wasn’t empty at all. Few people were walking and taking pictures of trees dressed by snow and kids of course playing. So few of us in the park and with my hand painted pink bike and red coat everybody could see me. I felt others glances full of amazement.
Before long I stuck in snow and found my way again. And stuck and tried another way. On some places snow was too high to spin pedals. Every time I hit a snow brick I laughed, tried to move on and ıf I couldn’t I laughed again. I barely moved fifteen meters still struggling through the entrance I came across with a couple both looking at me and smiling. Man had a camera phone on his hand and saying something at me. I didn’t understand what he was saying. He was one of the Syrian immigrants who kept on talking in his own language which I know very little. But I assumed that he wanted to shoot a photo and I smiled at them. As I expected he took my photo with his phone. Then they both said “thank you” in my language. Well, at least they tried.
After they left, I came near the stream. Snow was less tricky here. An old woman was recording the scene including me. Our eyes matched and she shyly turned the camera elsewhere. After I smiled and waved my hand she continued shooting me and I did some artistic movements — luckily I didn’t fall or slip. I rode through her and while passing next to her she said to me “ Maşallah!” ( It is an Arabic word used also in my tongue. Means: God preserves you from evil!)
I spent more than an hour to reach park’s other edge. Without snow it takes only a few minutes with bike. I was having fun but my fingers and toes started to think in opposite way. They all were getting numb. My breaks’ wires were almost frozen so I could use them no more till they get warm again. Returning home was more difficult and at the same time more surprising.
I came nearby an interesting company probably university students. African, Asian, European and local boys and girls were watching me. When I looked up to them they wave hands, clapped and said things like “Woouww, yeah, bravo…” . Then I stuck in the snow again and gave a pause. I imagined myself as a snow woman with a bike on their photos.
At home trying to melt down my fingers I realized that world has become too small to fit in a park. I only saw a bunch of people and I became an international photo model under the topic of ‘Cycling in the Snow’.
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