The wind in my sweaty brown hair felt superb on the burning hot July afternoon. “Clang!” I heard that noise and saw a small dent in the shell and thought “ What just happened?” My momentum declined and my pedals were baggy and floppy. That’s the day I learned to mend a bike chain all by myself.

Earlier that day I was breezing down my road because my A/C was barely working. The heat was rising to 110 degrees and my pool offered no relief. I glanced over at my friend’s house wondering if his A/C was working when I heard the sound.

“What is that noise?” I asked myself. My pedals were rolling, but I was in a stand-still. I figured out I should just trudge home and see what had happened to cause this. Walking into my scorching hot garage, I checked all the possibilities. I inspected whether the wheel was flat, my handle was inverted, or my pedal had broken. None of these were the problem. I started to push the pedal only to see the bright chrome chain jingling against the wheel. I tried to put it back where it belonged only to find it bounce off like an air-tight spring.

I was tired and didn’t want to deal with a problem that I didn’t know how to solve. I tried to hammer the chain on, screw it back on. I was about to tape it on until I realised that it couldn’t move thus making my problem worse. I couldn’t think of anything that could put this tiny escape artist back on track.

When all seemed hopeless, I thought about calling for my dad to help me. Instead, I clutched a wrench in my sweaty palm and started to tinker with the chain. That’s when I saw the answer to this riddle. I was able to hook it back on the bike because of the tiny poke from it fracturing.

When I decided to come, in I was comforted by a blanket of cool air known as air conditioning. I was glad that this had happened to me now, so that when it happens again I’ll be ready. I learned that attempting something new can lead you to failure or success; it all depends on how hard you try.