Day 268: My Bicycle (Part two)

Dresden has been completely destroyed three times: in 1685 by a fire, in 1756 during a Prussian siege, and in 1945 in the terrible bombing of the Second World War. These three destructions allowed the city to grow in an orderly way throughout its history: all its streets (even the oldest ones) were designed to prevent the spread of fires and, at the same time, to impose a certain order on the city layout. In fact, Dresden was the first city in the world to apply modern urban planning.

Nowadays, some streets have lanes only for trams and others only for buses, in addition to the road for car traffic and wide sidewalks (sometimes with grassy areas). And in most streets, there’s also a bike lane, complete with traffic lights for bikes, bike-only crossings, and poles to lock bikes to. Since Dresden is practically flat, with very few hills, and with pleasant weather (if you don’t count winter), the city is perfect for getting around by bike. Most people move around either by public transport or by bike, so there isn’t much traffic and riding on two wheels isn’t dangerous.

And in this context, I didn’t have a bicycle: the one I had had been stolen, and I hadn’t seen any interesting ones on the second-hand market. A few weeks before Manuel returned to Spain, I remembered he had one, so I made him a formal takeover bid for his bike, so that when he left, I could keep it. He told me it was a bit broken but worked fine, and he set a price: a döner and a beer (for those who don’t know what a döner is, I’m preparing a full post about this wonderful Turkish-German food). We closed the deal and I took the bike home.

The following weekend, I took it out for the first time to go to a barbecue on the other side of the city, and the experience was a total disaster: first, the lock broke and I had to cut it off with a file. Then I almost killed myself when the front wheel got stuck in a tram rail. I decided to go for a ride along the riverbank and, with the rattling over the cobblestones, the gears broke and the bike nearly fell apart. And finally, the last straw: I was almost run over by a runaway horse (?!), which had gotten loose from a disabled kid. When I got to my destination, I felt like just leaving it in the middle of the street to see if someone would take it. But I recovered, and the next day I fixed it up with a couple of quick patch jobs, and now I ride it everywhere. It’s such a pleasure to cycle around such a beautiful city as Dresden. That said, I’m still riding without a lock — one of these days I’ll go buy one, but for now I just leave it anywhere unlocked: in the dining room, at the university, at my front door… I’ve realized that no one checks if a bike is locked; everyone just assumes it is. Still, I shouldn’t push my luck — that purchase is now imminent.

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