Pedal On

Today I toppled over 3 separate sets of bikes. Parking your bike can be quite difficult here because where we park, our bike is in an alleyway. Everyone parks at an angle (see below but imagine an extra bike parked in between each of these and at a little more of an angle) so it can sometimes be rough maneuvering your bike out of it's little parking space.

 Today I had trouble doing this. On my way to class this morning, I knocked over two bikes in our alleyway trying to back my bike out. I grudgingly re-parked my bike, set my basket down( because I can't put my basket on until after I get it out of the parking space) and set their bikes back up. 

Later, Dan and I were leaving to go look at ovens...BAM! Nearly knock over another one. I am holding my bike with my knee and holding onto the seat of the bike about to fall over, calling for Dan to come grab one or another.

And third and finally, I was leaving the grocery store with my 32 pack of toilet paper(hey, they were having a sale and it was only 5.99euros!) stuffed in my basket, my saddle bag full of groceries and I did it again. Although this time it was in front of a busy grocery store with lots of people milling about. I just got the bike up and re-parked and my bike moved away when the owner of the bike came out. It was a close one.

Bike riding comes at a cost. Sometimes it means being humiliated as you knock over a row of bikes. Sometimes it means your legs are black and blue from banging them on the pedals as you try to get started. Sometimes it means you ride down a busy street, barely able to see ahead of you because there was such a great deal on toilet paper that you'd rather crash and burn than miss out on the sale. 

I will get the hang of this "bike riding as my car" situation, mark my words. But for right now, I slowly pedal on, narrowly missing (or sometimes hitting) everything in my path.