:: Tuesday, August 31, 2004 ::

Tour de Sweden

Yesterday I finally got my bike. And what a process and a half it was! Apparently there's some strange law in Falun that says all secondhand stores must be located as far as physically possible from the people that actually want to patronize said stores.

After numerous inquiries, contradictory testimonies from various informants, and information that certain closer secondhand stores had NO used bikes left, I finally got a line on one that supposedly did (thanks to the Polish Underground - there's so many of them here, it's like a bush telegraph or something - suffice to say, nearly all the Poles have bikes, but how?). In any case, I had a big stretch of time between my morning and afternoon classes, had reasonably good directions, and I was already in the center of town (after issues with paying my September rent - don't ask), so I figured, what the heck?

Now a smart man would say the place is several kilometers away, you have to take the bus there, and you have the entire day Wednesday free - why not wait until then and take someone with you, maybe make a fun excursion out of it? But no, Rob wants his bike today, so off I go. A smart man would also have said I'm going to a secondhand store to buy a bike, I'm just now leaving my bank, and maybe getting some money first would be a good idea. As it would become clear in hindsight, I was not that smart man.

I was reasonably certain I was on the right bus, though somewhat concerned with what stop to get off, so I spent the entire trip looking at my Swedish bus schedule and map and comparing them to the bus stop and street signs I saw through the window. But before you know it, I was in Korsnäs and ready to find my bike, assuming I could find the actual shop. My directions were to cross over the bridge between two lakes and it was somewhere around there, so off I went.

I was a bit concerned about time - I still had a few hours until my next class, but I had to make sure that if I didn't buy a bike that I would be back in time to catch the bus back to Centrum, which would still leave me about a 20 minute walk away from the university. So I was under a bit of pressure to find a bike, just so I wouldn't have to worry about making the bus.

A few minutes' walk indeed took me to the bridge, and lo and behold on the other side stood a big building marked Falun Fynd, with a bunch of bikes out front. I had found it! Success! I took a little while perusing the bikes, weighing the balance between budget and coolness, when a thought suddenly occurred to me: how would I pay for it? As suspected, the place only took cash, and there were apparently no cash machines around. Now I could have turned around and gone back to town, to return another day with less of a time crunch and more money in my pocket, but I was already there, I had found a pretty nice bike that very well might not be there when I returned, not to mention I had already spent 17 crowns on the bus trip out here and would have to pay 17 more to get back.

But there was a solution - just a few hundred meters up the road, I was told, was a grocery store where I could buy something and then get cash back to pay for a bike. Ah, but wait - the bike I had chosen was 1000 crowns, and I could only get 500 in cash back. No problem - just a little further up the road was another store, where I could once again buy something and once again get more cash back.

I'm tempted to postulate what a smart man would do in this situation, but instead I'll tell you what I did - I spent another half hour or so walking up the road to a grocery store, where I got a drink and 500 crowns, then further up the road to a convenience store where I got a candy bar and 500 more crowns, and then walked all the way back.

Of course, the fact is, the 1000 crown bike was one of the more expensive bikes there. I could have gotten one for considerably less money (anywhere from maybe 250-500 crowns), but this one had several features that not only recommended it above other ones there but that I was also looking for.

So I finally made it back to the store, money in hand, legs tired from walking, with an hour to go until class. I paid the man, got the bike, but decided I should raise the seat. No such luck - they didn't have an Allen wrench of the right size. No problem, it wasn't that bad, I could always adjust it later. I was finally on my way, back to town and university!

Now came a slight dilemma or two. I didn't know the exact way back, as I had come here by bus, but I wasn't too worried, as I had a map, and knew which direction to head at least. But should I head for school or home? I had brought a bike lock with me from the States, but as the smart man in me had decided to vacation for the day, I had left it in my room, because that's clearly the best thing to do with your bike lock when you're going to buy a bike! I was once more concerned with time - it was an hour until class, I was untold kilometers away from the university and home (which is actually past the university), and I kept having visions of my new (used) 1000-crown bike being stolen while I was in class on the very day I bought it.

So off I went, heading (I think) towards town, pedaling like mad, hoping I'd have enough time to go home before university. Seriously, I was like Lance Armstrong, or at least that's how I felt, riding so hard on my first time on a bike in at least five years. Fortunately, there were clear signs pointing the way to Centrum on the bike trails, so I had no problem with directions, although the town center was still a 20-25 minute walk from university and/or home. But I made it to the center of town with half an hour to spare, and decided that I did indeed have time to stop home first to get my lock. On my way, I passed several of my classmates heading to class in the opposite direction.

Now came the (almost) fatal flaw in my plan. I had made very good time in getting back to Britsen from the secondhand shop, and still had plenty of time to get to class, as the bike trip there would be faster than walking. But the way to school from Britsen is uphill most of the way, and my legs were already jelly from my hard first-time-on-a-bike-in-way-too-many-years ride.

I ended up having to walk the bike up one of the hills, and paused at least once to gasp like a fish flopping around on dry land. But I did make it there on time (with time to spare even), and the ride back after class was all downhill, and it was fun zipping right by my classmates and arriving home 15 minutes before them.

So now I'm in possession of a blue 4-speed mountain bike (technically a woman's bike, but it's not that noticeable and it is secondhand), complete with headlight, a rack on the back, and a bell to warn oncoming pedestrians. Now I just need to find an Allen wrench of the right size to adjust the seat a little higher.

Of course, fate continued to smile on me by raining this morning, prompting me to walk, and then suddenly turning sunny and warm before I had even made it to school. Perfect weather for a bike ride. Tomorrow I don't have class, so no riding then, either, and Thursday it'll probably snow, so my bike will get one day of use. Sorry, that's just the pessimist in me talking - I'm sure I'll be able to ride Thursday - but I do want to raise that damn seat.

Allen wrench donations freely and gladly accepted.

:: posted by Rob 10:45 PM [+] ::

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