.... from a rash of thirteen-year old charvas hanging around the (completely
non-CCTVed, cunningly out-of-the-way) bike racks outside the local
Sainsburys. Heyford Hill, Oxford if you know it. Horrid place. Anyway, I'd
already decided I didn't like the look of one of them who was loitering
outside as I went in, and I return to find three more clustered loosely
around my bike. The conversation goes a little like this:
Young Master Baseball Cap: nice (checks) Dawes!
Me: ... er, thanks.
YMBC: bet it goes. [1]
Me (affixing panniers): well, it shifts ok.
The kid continues asking about the bike. Nonchalently. You know:
unconvincingly. Have I been up Shotover on it? Well, yes. Would that bike
be a racer, by any chance? No, it's a light tourer. That floors him, and I
explain as misleadingly as I can on the spur of the moment, put on gloves,
and make ready to leave. But before he can get on to the street value of
its frame and componentry, his mate fluffs it and informs me that but for
the lack of an allen key they could have the front wheel and be off. Yes
indeed, I know that too. I thank them for confirming my suspicions, and
ride off chuckling.
All good fun, except of course that I've had stuff nicked from off the bike
there before. I suspect whoever it was managed to damage one of my front
lamps when trying to remove it, only to discover they hadn't got an allen
key on them. Ept they're not, these little sods, but they are persistent.
I think I'll be changing my shopping habits now..
[1] with not even a raised eyebrow or a nudge-wink. Feh. Kids of today.
--
Andrew Chadwick