Reason number 97 to love Miki: he got me a new bike.
Well actually I guess his dad did. And by new bike, I mean it's one of their old ones that no one uses anymore. But regardless, Miki brought it to me from Prague via train the week that my parents were here. He was really nervous about meeting my parents, and I was really frustrated that we were running late to dinner with Monika and Dieter especially since Dieter was waiting with the car. So it didn't make the best first impression of the quality of our relationship on my parents, but he passed the test nonetheless (I hope).
But this bike is new to me, and let me tell you, it puts me in a whole new league when I bike to work in the mornings. This bike has 18 speeds. That's 17 more than my old bike. Unfortunately, the seat is regular sized, so I no longer have the luxury of the old lady giant comfortable seat. That took some getting used to. And there's no basket, so I have to wear my bag, which results in sweaty back on days when it's hot. I think I'll start attaching it to the flat thing on the back (does that have a name?).
All sorts of people bike around Berlin. Not too many wear helmets though. And as I mentioned before, thanks to Miki, I wear my helmet everyday. Before, I fit in the category of overly cautious leisurely biker, since my bike had one speed, an old lady seat, and a basket. I couldn't really bike that fast, but I still had my helmet.
Now I'm running with the big dogs. On my first morning out with the new 18 speeder, I found myself in the midst of an unofficial urban bike race. Not ever having a bike with different speed options in the city before, I wasn't mindful of the stop light strategy. Successful urban bikers know to down shift into a lower gear while approaching a red light to increase the starting velocity once the light turns green again. These berliners are hard-core. They try to pass each other like mad. This unofficial bike race I stumbled upon was pretty well representative of the biker-types out there. Our contestants were:
The business man (wearing a business suit and a bicycle helmet)
The man in full spandex armor.
The half armored man wearing the spandex biking shorts but just a normal sweatshirt.
Me, the casually dressed young adult.
And finally the woman in her 30-40s with her purse in her basket and only one speed, yet pedaling like mad to keep up with the pack.
It was especially crazy do the construction we were biking through as well. And it's even more like a race because the traffic lights in Germany turn yellow before they turn green as well as before they turn red (fun fact!). I can't remember who pulled ahead first. I think it was half spandex man. Another thing I've learned about myself in the past month is that I don't like taking biking to work that seriously. So now when the pack comes, I just hang back and let them use their stop light strategy to its fullest potential.
Showing posts with label bike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bike. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Meeting Jesus
So life has been a smidgen stressful lately due to causes partly my own and partly due to the financial crisis. Long story short, I found myself without a source of income for my internship at the end of February. Confident (or foolishly thinking) that I would be able to find free-lance English work on the side, I volunteered to remain at UBA so I could finish my project and publish two posters for international conventions.
And the English jobs did pop up quickly, only to fall-through one by one frustrating week after frustrating week. I've gotten very good at making my euro stretch and making the cheapest meals imaginable (I'm eating lentils and potatoes as I write this) but there was one thing that I relied heavily on: my bike. Riding my bike all around Berlin allows me to not have to pay for the U-bahn, ever. And while 2,10 might not seem like much, that's more than enough for 2 loaves of bread.
This Tuesday I was feeling particualrly low as my business English student that I thought was a gaurentee, said he had to cancel because he didn't have the money. To top it off I got a flat tire on the way to work; the same tire, for the third time. Not wanting to spend three and a half loaves of bread to take my bike on the S-bahn (you have to buy a ticket for the bike too) and since it was nice out, I decided to walk my broken bike home. I have a tire patch kit, so I could fix it and be back in business the next day.
So there I was, disheartened, pushing my pathetic little bicycle 10 km from UBA to my place in Wedding. I was about 6 km there when I passed a man talking on his cell phone. It sounded like he said something to me, and maybe he did, but I wasn't going to stop since it sounded akin to a cat call. But then my bike stops me. I look down and the rubber band thing that seems to serve no purpose other than cause problems that is also shoved inside the tire along with the innertube, had fallen out in some sections and managed to wrap itself around the gear thingy of the back tire. So much so that the tire would no longer turn. At this point I was pretty numb to crap happening in life, so I didn't throw a temper tantrum like I would if this were just one bad day in a sea of relatively normal ones.
What happened next was nothing out of the ordinary. The guy had ended his cell phone call, and walked over to me, asking if my bike was broken. Well, obviously. Ok, I didn't say that, I said 'Wie, bitte?' a lot. Which is 'What?' in English because his German was very hard to understand through his thick accent which I soon learned was Palestinian. Of course next came what always comes next when I have trouble understanding people: the guess my nationality game. Rarely does anyone guess American on the first try. I don't know why this is, and I'm not complaining. I like that I blend in. I think this guy guessed German, Polish and English before I told him I was American. So then he starts speaking English. Or attempting too. That was fun. He definitely wins the 'worst English I've heard' award. It would have been easier to communicate in German. But no, this guy insisted on speaking Deutschlish (combination of the two). He was telling me how much he would like to help me. Saying I should leave my bike locked up at his shop (he's a car mechanic) and he could give me a ride home...but only if I wasn't afraid. He could probably read the look of skeptism on my face (not that I was trying to hide it). But my skeptism came with good reason since he doesn't know me and is probaly somewhere in the neighborhood of 40. Plus he was obviously trying to impress me by talking about his big appartment and telling me I have a beautiful name. He said he could fix my bike for me, and I could come get it the next day. Well, I had no money to give this guy and every intent to fix it myself. So I told him that. And he insisted that I didn't have to pay, he just wanted to help.
If I could have pushed my bike, I would have simply walked away. But since the back tire wouldn't move anyway, and I was tired from walking 6km already plus the 3 or so I had to walk in the morning after my tire went flat, I thought, 'what else can I do?' and accepted his offer. It was only a short way home. Right before we reached my street he asked if I had eaten yet (it was about 7:30 pm). I sighed and said 'no'. I was hesitant because I wanted to get away from him as soon as possible simply because the less time one spends alone with a strange man the better, but I was also sick at the thought of going home and eating rice for the 3rd meal in a row. But then he says, 'I get you some chicken. You like chicken? You take it with you and eat at home.' and he pulls up to a place not far from my house. I was immediately relieved. I thought his asking if I had eaten was his ploy to get me to go to dinner and spend more time with him. But no, he simply pulled over to the side of the road, left the keys in the car and joked 'don't steal my car' before running in to buy a meal to go.
And as I sat in the car waiting for him to return, with aching feet and an empty stomach, I thought to myself; this is Jesus. I am meeting Jesus through this middle-aged Palestinian car mechanic who barely speaks English. I've taught campers every summer about how we experience God the most through other people. And it's not that I don't believe that, I do. It's just that unfortunately, this world we live in isn't full of people who want to help you without expecting something in return.
He dropped me off around the corner and went home to eat my feast.
I wish this was the nice happy ending, but unfortunately, my bike got stolen from outside his shop that night. So now I have no bike. But he apologized profusely and offered to buy me a new one, so I believe that Jesus didn't steal my bike.
And the English jobs did pop up quickly, only to fall-through one by one frustrating week after frustrating week. I've gotten very good at making my euro stretch and making the cheapest meals imaginable (I'm eating lentils and potatoes as I write this) but there was one thing that I relied heavily on: my bike. Riding my bike all around Berlin allows me to not have to pay for the U-bahn, ever. And while 2,10 might not seem like much, that's more than enough for 2 loaves of bread.
This Tuesday I was feeling particualrly low as my business English student that I thought was a gaurentee, said he had to cancel because he didn't have the money. To top it off I got a flat tire on the way to work; the same tire, for the third time. Not wanting to spend three and a half loaves of bread to take my bike on the S-bahn (you have to buy a ticket for the bike too) and since it was nice out, I decided to walk my broken bike home. I have a tire patch kit, so I could fix it and be back in business the next day.
So there I was, disheartened, pushing my pathetic little bicycle 10 km from UBA to my place in Wedding. I was about 6 km there when I passed a man talking on his cell phone. It sounded like he said something to me, and maybe he did, but I wasn't going to stop since it sounded akin to a cat call. But then my bike stops me. I look down and the rubber band thing that seems to serve no purpose other than cause problems that is also shoved inside the tire along with the innertube, had fallen out in some sections and managed to wrap itself around the gear thingy of the back tire. So much so that the tire would no longer turn. At this point I was pretty numb to crap happening in life, so I didn't throw a temper tantrum like I would if this were just one bad day in a sea of relatively normal ones.
What happened next was nothing out of the ordinary. The guy had ended his cell phone call, and walked over to me, asking if my bike was broken. Well, obviously. Ok, I didn't say that, I said 'Wie, bitte?' a lot. Which is 'What?' in English because his German was very hard to understand through his thick accent which I soon learned was Palestinian. Of course next came what always comes next when I have trouble understanding people: the guess my nationality game. Rarely does anyone guess American on the first try. I don't know why this is, and I'm not complaining. I like that I blend in. I think this guy guessed German, Polish and English before I told him I was American. So then he starts speaking English. Or attempting too. That was fun. He definitely wins the 'worst English I've heard' award. It would have been easier to communicate in German. But no, this guy insisted on speaking Deutschlish (combination of the two). He was telling me how much he would like to help me. Saying I should leave my bike locked up at his shop (he's a car mechanic) and he could give me a ride home...but only if I wasn't afraid. He could probably read the look of skeptism on my face (not that I was trying to hide it). But my skeptism came with good reason since he doesn't know me and is probaly somewhere in the neighborhood of 40. Plus he was obviously trying to impress me by talking about his big appartment and telling me I have a beautiful name. He said he could fix my bike for me, and I could come get it the next day. Well, I had no money to give this guy and every intent to fix it myself. So I told him that. And he insisted that I didn't have to pay, he just wanted to help.
If I could have pushed my bike, I would have simply walked away. But since the back tire wouldn't move anyway, and I was tired from walking 6km already plus the 3 or so I had to walk in the morning after my tire went flat, I thought, 'what else can I do?' and accepted his offer. It was only a short way home. Right before we reached my street he asked if I had eaten yet (it was about 7:30 pm). I sighed and said 'no'. I was hesitant because I wanted to get away from him as soon as possible simply because the less time one spends alone with a strange man the better, but I was also sick at the thought of going home and eating rice for the 3rd meal in a row. But then he says, 'I get you some chicken. You like chicken? You take it with you and eat at home.' and he pulls up to a place not far from my house. I was immediately relieved. I thought his asking if I had eaten was his ploy to get me to go to dinner and spend more time with him. But no, he simply pulled over to the side of the road, left the keys in the car and joked 'don't steal my car' before running in to buy a meal to go.
And as I sat in the car waiting for him to return, with aching feet and an empty stomach, I thought to myself; this is Jesus. I am meeting Jesus through this middle-aged Palestinian car mechanic who barely speaks English. I've taught campers every summer about how we experience God the most through other people. And it's not that I don't believe that, I do. It's just that unfortunately, this world we live in isn't full of people who want to help you without expecting something in return.
He dropped me off around the corner and went home to eat my feast.
I wish this was the nice happy ending, but unfortunately, my bike got stolen from outside his shop that night. So now I have no bike. But he apologized profusely and offered to buy me a new one, so I believe that Jesus didn't steal my bike.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Fahrradsicherheit
You haven't heard many bike-tales from me lately not because I'm getting the hang of finding my way around Berlin, or that I've learned how to safely maneuver around curbs and pedestrians, but because once again I got a flat tire...and it's been cold. Also, the two weeks that Monika and Dieter were on vacation, Dieter gave me his Monatskarte so I could ride the subway for free. And since it was January and therefore pretty cold, I took advantage of it. But this time instead of paying 20 euro to have some guy put in a new tube, I bought a repair kit and Miki fixed it for me.
And if fixing bike tires isn't reason enough to love him, hopefully this next bit will win your approval.
Fahrradsicherheit = bicycle safety
Before I blew out my tire again, I was biking to work from Monika and Dieter's (which is less than 4 km away; a nice break from the normal 10+) so that Miki could have the run of the city while I was at work. During this small window of time, my lights officially ceased to function. The front one had been working on and off for about a month, and the back light never worked. This was unacceptable to Miki. My lack of helmet was also unacceptable. When we were in Kaufland buying a water cooker to replace the one I melted, (that's a great story) we looked for bike lights. The lights he had in mind weren't there, but there were helmets. Despite my childish protests about it 'not being cool', Miki clearly wasn't leaving until I picked one out. The next morning he got up and made sure I went to the bike store to buy lights before I went to work (so that I would have them for the ride home). Oh, and he also reminded me to wear my helmet when I 'forgot' it on the way out. I had to borrow 5 euro from him to pay for the lights since they were more expensive than I had expected and the Fahrrad shop doesn't take Visa. When I tried to pay him back he turned it down and said "Consider it my contribution to your Fahrradsicherheit."
So Mom, I have a helmet now! I continue to wear it regularly; it's not as uncool as I originally thought.
And if fixing bike tires isn't reason enough to love him, hopefully this next bit will win your approval.
Fahrradsicherheit = bicycle safety
Before I blew out my tire again, I was biking to work from Monika and Dieter's (which is less than 4 km away; a nice break from the normal 10+) so that Miki could have the run of the city while I was at work. During this small window of time, my lights officially ceased to function. The front one had been working on and off for about a month, and the back light never worked. This was unacceptable to Miki. My lack of helmet was also unacceptable. When we were in Kaufland buying a water cooker to replace the one I melted, (that's a great story) we looked for bike lights. The lights he had in mind weren't there, but there were helmets. Despite my childish protests about it 'not being cool', Miki clearly wasn't leaving until I picked one out. The next morning he got up and made sure I went to the bike store to buy lights before I went to work (so that I would have them for the ride home). Oh, and he also reminded me to wear my helmet when I 'forgot' it on the way out. I had to borrow 5 euro from him to pay for the lights since they were more expensive than I had expected and the Fahrrad shop doesn't take Visa. When I tried to pay him back he turned it down and said "Consider it my contribution to your Fahrradsicherheit."
So Mom, I have a helmet now! I continue to wear it regularly; it's not as uncool as I originally thought.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
The Saga Continues
The Saga to which I am referring is that of my Fahrrad (bike). I got back from the states on a Thursday afternoon. Needless to say, when I awoke on Friday, I didn't really jump out of bed. After hours of snooze hitting, I finally dragged myself out of bed and into the shower (that was in the kitchen!) and decided not to bike, because I was too tired. I would just start biking again on Monday. I should also note, that I had brought my bike lock back with me from the states, because the one that came with my bike was pretty hit or miss as to whether or not I could get the key to turn. Sometimes it would take a little jiggling. Anyway as I was walking to the U-bahn, I realized I didn’t have anything smaller than a 50, since I had just gotten back. No ticket machine takes 50’s. Some of them don’t take any bills. Those ticket machines are really annoying at how picky they are sometimes, but that’s a different rant for a different day. So I turn back around thinking, screw it, I’ll just bike. I went to retrieve my bike, and sure enough had to jiggle like crazy to get the key to turn and get it unlocked. I thought to myself, “should I go get my other lock? Nah, it was probably just cold since it’s been sitting there for a whole week without being used." And I rode to work.
Upon leaving work, I went to unlock my bike. I inserted the key, and turned...nothing happened. No lateral movement whatsoever (ok, so I don't think the key turning constitutes lateral movement, but whatever). So I took the key out, and put it back in. I tried using my left hand. I took my gloves on and off. I said some 'magic' words. Nothing. So I left it there, telling myself I had planned it that way, since I was moving on Monday anyway. I can just wait until I move, and ride it to my new home after work on Tuesday.
,,The origin of the most far-reaching undertaking often lies in barely noticed events"
Vision of Idealistic Citizens Everywhere sponsors
,,Hands around the Globe" on 6.26.2026
(then there's a drawing of a world with people holding hands around it and next to it a picture of what looks like a rolled up peice of paper tied with a ribbon.)
Support a Citizen World Peace Agreement for Freedom and Justice
BECOME AN INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER
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I have no idea if I got the card because he noticed I was reading an English book, or because of the book I was reading. Either way, I thought it was interesting and went to the website when I got to work. It's a bunch of really long narratives written by someone with English as their second language. I didn't take any further action. But, I'm passing on the website to you, so there.
Now it's Tuesday. The move went smoothly, and I'm ready to bike to my new home. I slowly approach the bike. It's been sitting there for 4 days now. I tell myself it'll unlock easily on the first try. No deal. But, alas, it's the same as before, plus it's really cold so my hands are freezing and my nose is running. I start to think of all of the irony behind the fact that the bike is here in the first place. So I began cursing my life and threw a mini temper tantrum to myself in the courtyard of the Umweltbundesamt, complete with a couple of tears (I kid you not) and then tried one more time. Success! Now I see why kids throw tandrems, apparently it works.
I rode happily home on my bike and continued riding the rest of the week. On Sunday I decided to go to church. It just doesn't seem like the Christmas season yet (despite the numerous amounts of lighted structures in the streets) so I figured I'd see if church would add to the Christmas spirit. I went to a place I pass on my way to work, only about 10 minutes down the road by bike. It was the family service so it was very kid oriented. They talked a lot about Saint Nikolaus since the day before was St. Nikolaus day (the reason we got an orange from Santa in elementary school) and I know nothing about him, so it was kind of boring. After the service, I went to unlock my bike only to notice the completely flat back tire. I definitely need a new innertube. So I had to walk back the whole way, dragging my bike. I've been riding the U-bahn to and from work this entire week.
Vision of Idealistic Citizens Everywhere sponsors
,,Hands around the Globe" on 6.26.2026
(then there's a drawing of a world with people holding hands around it and next to it a picture of what looks like a rolled up peice of paper tied with a ribbon.)
Support a Citizen World Peace Agreement for Freedom and Justice
BECOME AN INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER
www.voice-consensus.com
epluribusunum@t-online.de
I have no idea if I got the card because he noticed I was reading an English book, or because of the book I was reading. Either way, I thought it was interesting and went to the website when I got to work. It's a bunch of really long narratives written by someone with English as their second language. I didn't take any further action. But, I'm passing on the website to you, so there.
Now it's Tuesday. The move went smoothly, and I'm ready to bike to my new home. I slowly approach the bike. It's been sitting there for 4 days now. I tell myself it'll unlock easily on the first try. No deal. But, alas, it's the same as before, plus it's really cold so my hands are freezing and my nose is running. I start to think of all of the irony behind the fact that the bike is here in the first place. So I began cursing my life and threw a mini temper tantrum to myself in the courtyard of the Umweltbundesamt, complete with a couple of tears (I kid you not) and then tried one more time. Success! Now I see why kids throw tandrems, apparently it works.
I rode happily home on my bike and continued riding the rest of the week. On Sunday I decided to go to church. It just doesn't seem like the Christmas season yet (despite the numerous amounts of lighted structures in the streets) so I figured I'd see if church would add to the Christmas spirit. I went to a place I pass on my way to work, only about 10 minutes down the road by bike. It was the family service so it was very kid oriented. They talked a lot about Saint Nikolaus since the day before was St. Nikolaus day (the reason we got an orange from Santa in elementary school) and I know nothing about him, so it was kind of boring. After the service, I went to unlock my bike only to notice the completely flat back tire. I definitely need a new innertube. So I had to walk back the whole way, dragging my bike. I've been riding the U-bahn to and from work this entire week.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Things that I don't like about biking in Berlin*
*some of these probably apply to more places other than Berlin
1) Googlemaps gives directions as if you are walking. Therefore you would be on the other side of the street. Normally, this doesn't matter until you get to complicated intersections which are complicated by themsleves. The fact that the 'links bei Kaiser-Wilhelm Platz' for only 23 m isn't acutually neccessary just adds to the confusion.
2) The streets are not well marked. There's one tiny street sign that is really hard to read. And sometimes, they're not marked at all.
3) What I would consider the same streets, have different names depending on what direction you're traveling.
4) Cobblestones. I hate the colbblestones.
5) It always starts raining after I start biking and then stops right when I get to where I'm going. Even if it's just misting, it's frustrating since I need windsheild whipers for my glasses.
6) The 'hill' on Hermannstraße.
7) I get really angry when I get lost.
8) Alexanderplatz (this is usually the cause of number 7)
My life right now basically consists of biking to different places. That's where all the excitement happens. I've gotten lost more times then I care to admit. I guess it's not surprising see as it happens a lot no matter what mode of transportation I'm using, although I still consider myself to be good with directions. I think I should reevalute that claim. Instead of good with directions, I think I'm good at remembering things. So if you tell me how to get somewhere, or if I copy it off of Googlemaps or something, I won't have to refer to the directions very often, if at all. But this is assuming all the turns are well marked and straight forward. When this is not the case, I suppose those people with a good sense of direction would be able to sense the general direction of their destination and would make enough turns to get back on track. Whereas someone like me, who relies entirely on the names of streets, is at this point lost. I think this is because I'm not good at visualizing things. For example, even though I lived in my parents' house for 13 or so years, I still have a hard time believing the bathrooms are build on top of each other. It just doesn't match the picture in my head.
Don't get the wrong idea though, I do enjoy having a bike in the city.
1) Googlemaps gives directions as if you are walking. Therefore you would be on the other side of the street. Normally, this doesn't matter until you get to complicated intersections which are complicated by themsleves. The fact that the 'links bei Kaiser-Wilhelm Platz' for only 23 m isn't acutually neccessary just adds to the confusion.
2) The streets are not well marked. There's one tiny street sign that is really hard to read. And sometimes, they're not marked at all.
3) What I would consider the same streets, have different names depending on what direction you're traveling.
4) Cobblestones. I hate the colbblestones.
5) It always starts raining after I start biking and then stops right when I get to where I'm going. Even if it's just misting, it's frustrating since I need windsheild whipers for my glasses.
6) The 'hill' on Hermannstraße.
7) I get really angry when I get lost.
8) Alexanderplatz (this is usually the cause of number 7)
My life right now basically consists of biking to different places. That's where all the excitement happens. I've gotten lost more times then I care to admit. I guess it's not surprising see as it happens a lot no matter what mode of transportation I'm using, although I still consider myself to be good with directions. I think I should reevalute that claim. Instead of good with directions, I think I'm good at remembering things. So if you tell me how to get somewhere, or if I copy it off of Googlemaps or something, I won't have to refer to the directions very often, if at all. But this is assuming all the turns are well marked and straight forward. When this is not the case, I suppose those people with a good sense of direction would be able to sense the general direction of their destination and would make enough turns to get back on track. Whereas someone like me, who relies entirely on the names of streets, is at this point lost. I think this is because I'm not good at visualizing things. For example, even though I lived in my parents' house for 13 or so years, I still have a hard time believing the bathrooms are build on top of each other. It just doesn't match the picture in my head.
Don't get the wrong idea though, I do enjoy having a bike in the city.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Ich fahre mit dem Rad zur Arbeit.
I biked to work today for the first time since the purchase of my old lady bike. I bought it last week from someone on craigslist. It's a one speed with only the right handlebar brake which is to be used in conjuction with back pedaling. I bought it because it was cheap and it already has a light on it. The problem with Paul's extra bike was 1) it's technically his ex-girlfriend's so I can't really take it with me when I move. 2) it doesn't have a working light and die Polizei are very strict when it comes to biking at night. A fine for not having lights is more than 2 months rent. No thanks. So I bought myself this beauty. It has a really wide seat and a basket on the back. It also has a bell on the left handlebar. So I pretty much look like an old lady casually pedaling to the grocery store all the time. It's not really a magnet for fine young gentlemen, but since when have I needed a ruse? I rode it home from my shady back alley purchase of it (just kidding, we were in a courtyard). It was dark, cold, and rainy on the ride home, but it was only 2 km away and I knew the way, so it was kein Problem (no problem). However, the next morning my calves were sore. That is apparently how long it had been since I rode a bike. I swear the fact that it was cold contributed greatly to the aching muscles, or I'm just that pathetic that I can't bike 2 km (which is 1.2 miles for all of you English system users) without being sore the next day.
I had the rest of the week left on my Monatskarte (month pass for the U-bahn) so I continued to ride it to work instead of biking (out of laziness and the fact that it wouldn't stop raining). I decided to give it a try today though. I had no idea how long it would take. According to google maps, it was 10.something km that would take 2 hours and 15 min to walk. I was going to leave early to give myself plenty of time for getting lost (the probability of which I thought was relatively high) but ended up leaving 45 mins after I wanted to. I was probably somewhere between 1 and 2 km away when I got stuck behind an actual old lady casually pedaling somewhere (probably from somewhere since her basket was already full). Not wanting to bike that slowly, I made my move to pass her.
Some things about Berlin you should know:
It is very bike friendly. On almost every street there is either a bike lane on the road, or on the sidewalk.
German roads and sidewalks are very often cobblestone.
The bike lanes are indicated by a different pattern in the cobblestone (normally small, close together stones to allow for a smoothe ride).
On this particular road, the bike lane was on the sidewalk. Separating the bike lane from the pedestrian lane, was a small line of bricks. Ontop of the bricks were lots of colorful autumn leaves. So in order to pass this lady, I would have to simply ride over the slightly raised bricks and go around her. Most people with basic bicycle maneuvering skills would be able to accomplish this feat without much of a problem. But for some reason, I forgot to take Physics into consideration. There are a series of laws pertaining to motion, that most people naturally execute. I failed to do so at this moment. I pretty much hit the bricks with my wheel directly parallel to it, which changed the direction of the movement of the wheels to directly perpendicular (sideways) to the one in which they were moving (forward). In laymen's terms, my bike stopped and I fell off. Now I was only going like 2 km/hr so the only things bruised were my pride and my left knee. There was no blood (and no 12 stitches needed). The bike was a little twisted at the handlebars, but I was able to move them back in place with relative ease. For a second I contemplated going back and taking the U-Bahn, but then I remembered some saying about falling off a horse and getting back on, so I persevered.
The remainder of the journey was uneventful. I didn't get lost and I made it there in about 50 min door to door. So it's pretty much exactly the same as the U-bahn. I was, however, really sweaty when I got there, and therefore got really cold once the sweat dried. Does anyone know how to fight that? I'm going to leave work early today in hopes that it will still kind of be light while I learn the way back. We'll see how sore I am tomorrow.
I had the rest of the week left on my Monatskarte (month pass for the U-bahn) so I continued to ride it to work instead of biking (out of laziness and the fact that it wouldn't stop raining). I decided to give it a try today though. I had no idea how long it would take. According to google maps, it was 10.something km that would take 2 hours and 15 min to walk. I was going to leave early to give myself plenty of time for getting lost (the probability of which I thought was relatively high) but ended up leaving 45 mins after I wanted to. I was probably somewhere between 1 and 2 km away when I got stuck behind an actual old lady casually pedaling somewhere (probably from somewhere since her basket was already full). Not wanting to bike that slowly, I made my move to pass her.
Some things about Berlin you should know:
It is very bike friendly. On almost every street there is either a bike lane on the road, or on the sidewalk.
German roads and sidewalks are very often cobblestone.
The bike lanes are indicated by a different pattern in the cobblestone (normally small, close together stones to allow for a smoothe ride).
On this particular road, the bike lane was on the sidewalk. Separating the bike lane from the pedestrian lane, was a small line of bricks. Ontop of the bricks were lots of colorful autumn leaves. So in order to pass this lady, I would have to simply ride over the slightly raised bricks and go around her. Most people with basic bicycle maneuvering skills would be able to accomplish this feat without much of a problem. But for some reason, I forgot to take Physics into consideration. There are a series of laws pertaining to motion, that most people naturally execute. I failed to do so at this moment. I pretty much hit the bricks with my wheel directly parallel to it, which changed the direction of the movement of the wheels to directly perpendicular (sideways) to the one in which they were moving (forward). In laymen's terms, my bike stopped and I fell off. Now I was only going like 2 km/hr so the only things bruised were my pride and my left knee. There was no blood (and no 12 stitches needed). The bike was a little twisted at the handlebars, but I was able to move them back in place with relative ease. For a second I contemplated going back and taking the U-Bahn, but then I remembered some saying about falling off a horse and getting back on, so I persevered.
The remainder of the journey was uneventful. I didn't get lost and I made it there in about 50 min door to door. So it's pretty much exactly the same as the U-bahn. I was, however, really sweaty when I got there, and therefore got really cold once the sweat dried. Does anyone know how to fight that? I'm going to leave work early today in hopes that it will still kind of be light while I learn the way back. We'll see how sore I am tomorrow.
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