3 September - Berlin; The City of Bikes

About twelve months ago I purchased a bicycle on eBay. 'Reconditioned' and 'vintage' with a sparkling new paint job and obligatory basket on the front. Upon purchasing this bike I could not get enough of looking at it. Chained to my bedroom window grate, in front of a flower box brimming with geraniums, I dubbed my new acquisition 'snowflake', and foresaw a happy and aesthetically pleasing life together. 

In her twelve months lifespan with me, 'snowflake' has seen the road approximately nine times. My lack of ability to bond with bike riding was summed up when housemate K noted one day - 'oh, you rode today? I was worried when I didn't see your bike out front. I assumed it must have been stolen'. It's not that I'm lazy exactly, it's just that I like the idea (and look) of the bike more than the riding of the bike. 

So, upon landing in Berlin, my new home for the next two months, I've needed to radically reassess this attitude. Everybody rides a bike in this town. And they don't care if it has a new paint job or hand woven basket. If it has two wheels, it will do. Functioning brakes optional. Below is a snapshot of my back garden (taken from the kitchen window).

This shows only one side of the garden. There are at least ten more bikes bordering this courtyard - also note the veggie patch (but more on that in a later post). 

The orange number (second from the right under the shelter), is mine. As a homage to snowflake, this beast has been called 'traffic cone', as no other name could describe its lurid shade and utter lack of style. If I'm to get over my affliction for riding only for fashion, this bike is most certainly the cure.

When hiring the bike I made a gesture to the bike guy to indicate that I'd quite like to hire a helmet as well, so as to not break my skull during this little experiment. 'Nein' was the short answer to that request. No helmets here. So, day one, off I went with streaming hair and nervous stomach. First stop, Brandenburg Gate.

Now part of the reason I don't really dig bike riding in Melbourne has something to do with hills and lack of decent infrastructure for cyclists. Everybody would know that riding to the Napier Hotel from my house (for example), involves not only braving the lunatics on Brunswick St, but also a slight incline that snowflake is simply not equipped to handle. Thankfully, Berlin is totally flat and has more bike lanes than pedestrian footpaths. Traffic cone also sports some nifty back pedal brakes which take me back to a time (when I was about twelve) and used to ride my bike outside my house for hours at a time. Handbrakes always felt so adult - so serious. 

I could get used to this. Then I hit the Unter den Linden and the bike path and bus lane became one. Praying that a bus wouldn't pull out in front of me became my sole thought. That, and the fact that I was without helmet. By the time I reached the Brandenburg Gate I needed to sit down at a tourist restaurant and pay five euros for a water - just to calm my nerves. 

But, from my overpriced vantage point I was able to observe the lay of the land. The buses (and cars) were deferring to the cyclists in every case. No aggression, not even a close call was noted. 

On the way home I was a different rider to the girl who had started out. Traffic cone and I were now friends. I could even relax enough to cycle and window shop at the same time. Result; new black dress and hopefully a fitter, less prejudiced future cyclist.