Cycle without pedals

Nithin was riding his bicycle in the countryside. The greenery all around, the dustless air and no noise surroundings made Nithin pleasant of the trip. He had stopped the ride, parked his bike and started to enjoy the locality. As he was grazing around nature, a flock of village kids ran around to see his bicycle. Nithin walked to his cycle to see what was hullabaloo was all about. He quickly learns that the kids were awed by his bike. It had these wild lights at the front and back, a place to keep some water bottles, and it had what looked like a hundred rear spoke wheels. They were asking all questions about his bike, and he was then proud of his possession. That also reminded his conversation with his wife.

"It is just a midlife crisis", announce the wife.

"No, it is not", replied in a low tone Nithin.

"If it is not, why don't you ride on a less expensive bike for a while," she asked, in a disappointed tone.

"You have seen me riding my friend's bike for a while, and at two lakhs, it is not that expensive."

"You said it was only 1.8 lakhs yesterday."

"It is 1.8lakhs. I just rounded it."

"I don't know. It is your money, you decide", said Radha in a surrendering tone as the same conversation was going on for three months by then.

"See this, is shining like a diamond," exclaimed a kid, which brought back Nithin from his wife's conversation. 

"It looks so lightweight. How will it hold a big adult?" asked another kid out of curiosity. 

"It is made of carbon material and is strong", replied Nithin.

The queries continued, and with each answer, the awe in the face of kids multiplied. The eyes of Nithin lit with every answer he was giving. Like every other man in the world, Nithin too likes his possessions. 

"What is this?"

"These are gears."

"Only bikes with engines have gears, right?" exclaimed a kid.

"This is a special bike. As we go fast, the change of gears helps to ride easier."

"I have seen this already in my uncle's house", brushing off other's excitement out there. That hurt Nithin's ego. He started listing all the bells and whistles of the bicycle. 

"This is a new variant, released only a few months ago."

"There is nothing new in this", replied the kid, as if it was nothing.

"This has a GPS, a speedometer, and many other modern gadgets on it." 

The kid was still not reacting.

"See, the weight is less than the smallest bike."

No reaction.

"If I take a level of speed, I did not even pedal that fast for it to move."

"That is nothing. My bike doesn't have pedals."

Nithin had no reply anymore. He was looking at the kid with awe. The kid suddenly felt like a big shot. Nithin started thinking

"How could that be? Could it be an electric bike? But how can this kid in a remote town have an electric bike? He looked at the kid one more time, top to bottom. With oversized shorts and a shirt with broken buttons, he decided the kid was faking. He decided to show him his place."

"I don't believe you. I don't know any bike that can go as fast as mine. That too no pedals, is not possible at all", announced Nithin to the group.

"Okay, let us race then. Whoever comes first their bike is the best." challenged the kid.

"Race, with you? No", said Nithin, laughing away.

"I even let you start ahead of me", said the kid.

Nithin's ego was bruised badly, with the words. He said, "Okay, let us race. Only one point, you start ahead of me."

"Don't do that. You will lose.", laughingly replied the kid.

Nithin had no words. He had drawn a line as the starting point. They will ride till the foot of the mountain, 2 kilometres away and come back to the same place. Nithin went back a kilometre to start behind the kid. The kid understood, and he went into the farms and brought his cycle with no pedals. Nithin, standing a KM behind, could only see the shape of the bicycle from far. But he could not make up what the whole pedal-less was.

Meanwhile, the kids started counting for the race to start.

"1, 2, 3, and start ...." the collective tone was loud, and Nithin could clearly hear from a kilometre behind. Being a long straight road, Nithin also could make out the kid's bicycle starting. 

Nithin started peddling his bicycle with full force. Nithin thought he could catch the kid in no time. But the kid was riding very fast. It looked like they were coming near the mountain. Nithin started thinking again.

"Did I make a mistake? I should have at least seen the bicycle. There seems to be something about the bike that was giving him speed. How else can a small kid beat me? I agree he has tender legs and is in his youth. But I am athletic too. I cannot lose to the kid. "

Nithin gathered some extra energy and started cycling with double force. The kid was near the mountain and was ready to turn around. Nithin was not far back, and Nithin got a glimpse of the bicycle. It had some red colour paint on the back. The wheels seemed to have painted yellow. Nithin was sure now there was something special about the bike. He pedalled a little more and was just behind the kid. As he came close to the kid, he started turning around. He got some more glimpse of the bicycle. Now the paint looked gaudy. It looked like some aftermarket colouring. The bike started to feel pretty ordinary. A little more peddling and Nithin was next to the kid. That was when he got the real view of the bike.

It was just an ordinary bicycle. It had no pedals. The kid had a stick put into the pedal pocket so that he was able to drive. Nithin breezed past the kid. He looked at the kids standing and cheering for their friends. The kids started to get worried as their friend was falling behind. 

Nithin started to feel knots forming in his stomach. 

"What did I do? I let my ego make the decisions. I could not let this guy have this small happiness of feeling proud of his bicycle. As if that was not enough I challenged him. I disappointed so many people today."

With that in his mind, Nithin did the next best thing. Slowed down. It took only a few seconds for the kid to pass Nithin. The cheer of the kids was back. 

As Nithin reached the finishing point, the kid was on the shoulders of his friends. His friends treated him like a king who won a war. 

Nithin called on the kid and congratulated him.

P.S.: The next week, Nithin was back in the village. This time to give the kid, a real bicycle. The kid refused as he does not want his charity. Nithin said it was not charity. It was a prize he got because he won the race with Nithin. He still wanted to refuse, but his friends insisted he take it.