Biking

I thought I would share with you a form of travel more mundane than our usual jaunts around the continent. Biking is quite an experience here. First of all, you have to haul your bike up and down 3 long flights of stairs to and from our 3rd floor apartment (called 2nd level here in Poland). And when I go with the kids, I end up hauling 3 bikes up and down. I get more exercise before I start than I usually get in a full ride around Whiterock lake. Then we begin to brave the streets and sidewalks of Krakow.

When was the last time you had to race a trolley down the street? Those trolleys don't stop for anything, and they love to ring their little bells (their version of a horn) when someone tries to mess with their schedule by getting in the way. And of course, don't change lanes too fast, or you will wind up in the trolley track itself--or lying on your back all scraped up right next to the track (fortunately has not happened to me yet). Those tracks are a rider's nightmare.

Riding around town reminds me of watching some of the racers in the Tour de France. Ok, I'm no Lance Armstrong (though the resemblance in that picture is uncanny), but now I know what they feel like when they ride through those old European towns with cobblestone roads. If you try to talk while riding on cobblestones, you will sound like someone is moving your chin up and down really fast like my grandfather Pancho used to always do to me.

But in reality, it is a great joy to ride around Krakow. Chris, the kids and I have biked throughout the year here, even during the "warmer" days of winter. We have continued our "tradition" that I started in Dallas of riding our bikes to Sunday school. Except here, we wind up at beautiful Isaak's Temple built in 1664. I love riding most along the Wisla River which passes by the Wawel castle, the most famous site of Krakow. It is so surreal to pass that and realize that I am living here and enjoying a bike ride in its shadow. We also love riding up to the Planty (the green belt around the city center), as well as into the Rynek (the huge market square only minutes from our place). The biggest challenge there is all those stinkin' tourists who are so busy taking photos, they don't see me and the family bearing down on them at 20 mph.(Most certainly agreed with by Brody!)

The last couple of weeks I have started riding my bike to work on occasion. What a treat to get up in the morning and ride in the cool summer air. The office is only a 20 minute stroll to the office on my bike, about 23 minutes faster than taking the tram, and I never have to wait, and never have to "miss" my bike, like I do the tram.

And last weekend, I made my first trek into the hills for a mountain bike ride. Only a 10 minute ride from our apartment, there is a beautiful tree covered ranges of hills (with probably 200 meters of climb). Out of breath after a big climb (which forced me off my bike to walk, it was so steep), I was making my way along the unmarked and very poorly maintained trails--of course. On a brief decline of about 20 meters, I went to hit my brakes, and to my surprise, found my front brake completely unresponsive. I had snapped my front brake cable. Well I made it back ok with a mixture of walking and constant braking with my still operating back brake.

So now, off to my next adventure, finding a bike shop ("rowery" in Polish) where I can only hope to find some sort of universal biking language with which to communicate with the shop's mechanic. Well, I can always point at the brake and say "nie dobre" (not good). Oh how fun life is in Poland!