I’ve learned the hard way that bicycle repair takes a whole lot of finesse, and not too much muscle.  Yeah, you know what I’m talking about right?

Tightening a carbon seat post, adjusting shifter cables, and pretty much everything else on a bicycle requires a soft touch or else you just might do more damage than good.

You see, my problem is that I’m not quite the mechanic that I’d like to be….so when I’m doing my own repairs on the bike, I seem to muscle my way through it.  Well, at least I used to do that.  I realize now how delicate my beloved bikes are, and that having a delicate hand is the only way to go.

But a soft touch is also the way to approach things in everyday life as well.  Some people have success by bullying their way, or muscling through a situation….but to me that is not real success.  If you have to push someone down, or screw them over to get ahead….then you’re really further behind than you may think.

There are some aspects of life where I seem to handle situations in a calm and delicate way….and it’s always provided nothing but good things.  But there’s also aspects that I’m still working on.  Yeah, at times this mild-mannered cyclist can totally lose his temper and lash out at a person or situation.  Each time this happens, I’m reminded how doing so is about as effective as muscling my way through a bicycle repair.

There’s only one bicycle repair professional that I know personally well enough to witness if what they’ve learned by fixing a bike has taught them how to successfully react in all life situations.  Yeah, he really knows how to Make it Happen.  I wonder if all bike mechanics have a soft touch over muscle…..on and off the bike?