Bike Repairs

In order to bring our bikes over we bought the Serfa carriers. I had to break down the bicycles quite a bit, and I was real tired. I made mistakes, and one mistake was messing with the Ritchey Head. Don't ask me why I even touched it. Ich habe keine Ahnung. When I reassembled the bike, I noticed that the fork was moving around a bit within the Head (bearings). So I brought it to a bike shop.

My key when speaking to Germans is that I smile, a lot. I say "Hallo, Mein Name ist Eric. Ich komme aus Seattle, in Amerika. Sprechen Sie Englisch?" The most I hope for in reply is, "Ein Bisschen", a little. Then there is a great chance of a successful conversation, because with my two months of German lessons, all I speak is Ein Bisschen Deutsch. Although Jan, our tutor, bless you.

Now the reason I tell them I am from Seattle is so they can appreciate how much trouble I am in. I am really far from home. Everyone I have met smiles back.

So in no time at all the man at the bike shop fixes my bike. He does not charge me anything! Fantastic people, Germans, they are really under appreciated for their hospitality and helpfulness. Indeed, everyone, the bakers, the butchers, the bicycle repair people, the people at the Institute, everyone has gone out of their way to help us. Our landlords and their daughter are the kindest people we have ever met.

Back to the airline bike transport. For your information, my Surly Long Haul Trucker is a 58 in bike. This is definitely the limit of what can fit in the Serfa. And the LHT weighed quite a bit, so I was unable to pack that much more than the bike in the box. See pictures. Trisha's bike is an REI Lucas Valley. It fit much better. The bikes were in great shape when we got them here, except for the things I messed up. The wheels and handle on the Serfa were very helpful in moving the bikes around in the airport. Another key, if you are going to pack a bike, buy yourself a really good and accurate scale. It saved us so much money, and we were right under the 70 pound limit. Look how much stuff I packed with the Lucas Valley! The red bag has lots of tools, there are the helmets, lock, pump. One key was to buy a bag of plastic ties to keep stuff from moving around. I brought some along for the trip back.

Guten Abend.