Thursday, July 21, 2011

Biker-Mädchen

I don't have time for a long entry...but I want to post this so people know I'm still alive.

It was the second cold (relatively) and rainy day in a row. I decided that I could suck it up and bike in the rain, or I could shop and spend more money.

My frugal side won.

So, I rented a bike online. It took about 45 minutes to figure out the reservation system. You have to reserve through your mobile phone. Fortunately, when the whole deal didn't work for me, there was an English speaking customer service rep to walk me through the process.

So, here's my bike.


It cost 1 Euro an hour, and I think it was just an ad for a cinema. But what do I know.

Victor has a bike, a very fancy bike, but it is a boys bike. I have crotched the beam enough to know that I was NOT going to risk it on vacation.

I did take his super safety-conscious helmet with me. Bonus--it's warm!


It even has earflaps.

I'm having a kind of accident prone kind of day. I walked in front of a train, a car, and was honked at by another train. They have so many crosswalks here. Some for bikes. Some for pedestrians. Some for both. It's very confusing.

There is a separation in many places for walkers and bikers.

I took my bike to the famous bike path along the Elbe River. The path goes for miles and miles and miles.

Here was where I happened to come upon the path.


After carrying my bike down several sets of stairs, I resumed my ride. I saw scenes like this:

They have a few onion topped buildings from Russian times.

More later...

2 comments:

  1. "Crotched the beam" sounds kinda dirty.

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  2. Tim, it isn't. It's a fall on the beam when each leg chooses a different path to the floor. It's not fun, but it is memorable. You don't really get hurt long term, but the bruise can last for bit. Occupational hazard.

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