Sharing the Knowledge

The world is your classroom … but what are you teaching?

As I cycled home yesterday I spotted a fellow cyclist by the side of the bike path with his bike upside down and his back wheel in his hand. Whenever I spot someone with a flat or mechanical issue I slow down enough to ask if they have all they need to get back on the road. Most of the time the cyclist will have everything under control and so I just keep going but Glen was having a few issues.

He had owned his carbon fibre road bike for four months and this was his first flat tyre. He had absolutely no idea what to do. The interesting thing was that he said he couldn’t get good reception on his phone so he couldn’t head to YouTube for help. After giving him a quick lesson on tyre changing he was ready to get back on the road.

Doing what comes naturally

After that encounter I started thinking about a couple of things. Firstly how most of us have skills that we just take for granted that we can pass on to others. I’ve changed way too many flat tyres over the years so I can do a change in fairly quick time. I sometimes forget that something so natural for me is anything but natural for others.

What simple skills can you pass on to other people?

YouTube is your friend

The other thing I thought about was the rise of YouTube as a way of learning from each other. While Glen couldn’t get reception to watch any tyre changing action, he did say that he was going to watch some YouTube clips once he got home to learn more about the process.

Several months ago I had the unenviable task of changing parts inside our toilet cistern. I had the parts but no instructions so I searched YouTube to find some guy with the same cistern as us demonstrating what I needed to know. He wasn’t an expert, just a guy who had the same difficulties as me so once he figured out what to do he videoed a demonstration. Brilliant.

Do you head to YouTube to learn skills of any kind? Have you ever created a YouTube video to show how to accomplish simple tasks? Maybe I should video myself changing a bike tyre.



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About the author

Rodney Olsen

Rodney is a husband, father, cyclist, blogger and podcaster from Perth Western Australia.

He previously worked in radio for about 25 years but these days he spends his time at Compassion Australia, working towards releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name.

The views he expresses here are his own.

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6 Comments

  • Thanks for reminding us that the small things matter a lot and that we really are here to help each other. Great post! Blessings, Debra

    • We do forget how much those little things mean to others. It was a few minutes of my time doing something very simple but that guy was incredibly thankful.

  • Oh, I´m soooo old(-fashioned?)!
    I´d just waited for a guy coming by and ask for help!

    Cause a) I don´t know how to change a flat (I never ever had one), b) I have a simple cellphone (not even a cam with it), but mainly… I´m still in for asking a person I can look in the eye in reality.
    Oh, boy. I won´t be a good Aunt when my Niece gets older, huh?
    I´d be suspicious, too, if the video is not a mean joke and I end up real bad with my bike? (turn back to sentence one…)…

    Great you slow down asking.
    Called Spouse back in the house this morning cause the neighbour´s door was open (5:00 am).
    It´s important to take care of each other and be there for probably needed help.

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