Adaga – 1 mighty plummet that became my nickname

What is Adaga?

Adaga is a slang for describing the stunt where a bicycle rider raises the front wheel by balancing on the left wheel while in motion. It is always an attempt to raise front of the bike to set it at a perpendicular angle with the back wheel as the sole means of motion.

The Journey to the Beans seller

The sun was meters past the horizon as the day was still toddling but showed good signs of being a very sunny one. A long winding queue snaked its way from the waakye seller’s joint to the edge of the street. The Koko seller across the street had also been swallowed by the crowd of school children that had circled her, screaming on top of their voices to get her attention.

I hated to join long winding queues just to buy a widow’s mite worth of food. Gliding on the back of my not-too-new bicycle, I made a quick U-turn and headed for “makpor” the beans seller’s end. The path leading to the “makpor” was a steep one and required a great deal of experience and a touch of perfect riding skills like mine to go unharmed.

Dexterously using my weight to bring the bike to the middle lane of the busy street, I zoomed past two “trotros” (commercial buses), which were moving at tortoise pace. The wind tore at my ears as I sped on and I loved the flapping sound its impact made in my ears.

When on my bike on bright days like this, just don’t cross my path, lest I run you down.

I was soon at “makpor” and thank goodness, the usual crowd there was absent. I decided to make a quick U-turn and come to perform the “sacred ritual” in the holy sanctuary- “Makpor”

Gracefully, I brought the right paddle to accelerating position, at the same time swinging the steering and adding my weight, the style was called “Cee”, it usually turned the bike 180 degrees and would leave the screeching marks of the rear tyre on the bare floor almost like the letter “C”

The rear tyre spun so fast I lost control and was thrown out of the bike. I found myself sprawled awkwardly on the floor.

A group of children who had witnessed the mighty “humpty-dumpty” fall wouldn’t stifle their laughter. Baring their teeth, they screamed laughter out of the bellies.

The Failed Adaga

Wanting to show them my worth and dexterity with the bicycle I jumped onto the bike again. Holding the steer firmly I paddled swiftly and exerted lifting force to the steer and soon the front tire was up in the air-“Adagga” I maintained the posture for about 7seconds, still trying to impress my little audience, I dropped the front tire and repeated the process, this time I lifted it even higher than before.

The force was too much and the back tyre skidded off and down I went again. I hit my head hard against the bare tarred floor and everything spun before my eyes.

There was an explosive barrage of laughter louder than the June 3 thunder clapping. I lay there wishing I could just disappear into thin air or just sink into the dusty earth.

I lay there with my eyes closed for a very long time and all I could hear was continuous explosive laughter and rhetorical questions.

And that how I earned my infamous nickname, “Adaga”

By:  Edwin Abanga

Contact:    eabanga21@gmail.com