Bikes aplenty

Yesterday I rode a bike for the first time in about two and half months.  That number seems huge as back at school I rode my bike around more than I walked!  While the fact that I got to ride a bike is cool, the reasons why I had to are not so fun.  As you may have read below in Austin’s post, yesterday all of the buses and trams were on strike!  For most people I think this wasn’t too much of a problem, it only meant walking an extra five minute walk, a short jaunt on a bike, or catching a ride with a host parent.  I on the other hand, I live about as far away from AIB as you can possibly get.  After finding out that there was indeed a strike planned, and that my host mom did not work in town, I began to search for other options to get to class.  Thankfully my host mom let me borrow her bike and highlighted the route on a map for me, so I did have a way to get to class.  So my bike adventure began.

The ride was actually pretty nice; I avoided much of the traffic by taking the back roads and it felt nice to be active and explore a side of town that I usually do not see.  Ironically the 4.11 mile ride only took me five more minutes than the bus ride usually takes.  I only had to ask for directions once and I managed not to fall off of my bike or get hit by a car.  I arrived to class pretty sweaty but thankfully Kathryn had an extra shirt I could wear. 

The ride back at the end of the day was a little brutal.  I hadn’t noticed on the way to AIB, but the trip there was apparently slightly downhill most of the way.  That meant that the ride back was pretty much all uphill.  It was one of those things where you didn’t really notice you were going uphill until your legs started burning.  Also about halfway through my ride it started raining.  I did have a waterproof jacket on and the rain felt good on my face so it wasn’t so bad, but I did end up walking my bike up the last hill to my house instead of trying to navigate the traffic with my hood up.  While biking to class was a fun adventure that I hope to repeat some time, I think I will wait for the days that it is sunny and nice outside.

So that wraps up my journey and I will leave you with this list of helpful tips in case you ever decide to ride your bike in Germany.

1)  Avoid tram tracks at all costs! You will invariably almost fall off your bike because your tires just happen to be the same exact size as the tracks.

2)  Learn to ride a bike with one hand so you can signal to the traffic where you are going.

3)  Strongly consider wearing a sign that says: Caution, American riding bike, 2 meter radius suggested

4)  Don’t ride on the sidewalk unless you are under 12 years old, it’s the law!

5)  Follow the bike path religiously.  If no path is present panic! Just kidding, don’t panic, just ride along the side of the road.

6)  Be bold! Pretend you are a car and merge with traffic like it is no big deal.

7)  Don’t bother asking for directions in German, they will look at you funny and respond in English anyways.

8)  Do not expect stop signs in neighborhoods and hopefully you'll do better at figuring out who has the right-of-way than I did

Anyways, get excited because Spring Break is around the corner!  Tschüß for now!