Cruisin'

It's been snowing here for the past 24 hours or so and I can see the cold sitting in the sky like a heavy cloud of smoke. I've been riding my bike through this thickness for days now, trying to stay upright as I slide along the ice and snow. Last night was the precipice of punishment when it comes to bike riding in Germany: 20 degrees, dark, hoodlums left and right, ice instead of pavement, and to top it off a BROKEN LIGHT.

To give you a better visual, I thought it might be helpful to first illustrate the kinds of things I accomplish with the two-wheeled devil machine. Well, that list includes pretty much everything that you probably do with a car: grocery store trips, driving to the airport/train station for a trip, driving to school with books and computer...and I've had to take all of the goodies you need for those trips along with me. Some of the things I've carried on my bike (no basket, people!) include:
--a yoga mat with groceries and an overnight bag
--a rug, among other household supplies
--a week's worth of groceries (this may seem an impossible feat at first, but imagine...shopping bags hanging from handle bars, shoulders, neck...)
--two week's worth of clothes in a duffel bag
--and most recently a violin (this one was scary, if Mr. Fear, my orchestra teacher saw that, he would probably rip off his normal human costume and turn into the Batman villain that his name implies).

The rules of biking in Germany are strict, mainly I think because there are so many of us (that's right, Germany, you have to claim me as one of your bikers for the next few months!!) There are bike paths everywhere, as many as—if not more than—sidewalks. Now, seeing as I am a really cute and charming American girl, I figured that the rules don't apply to me. This is not true. Last week I was stopped by the police for having a light out and riding on the wrong side of the road. I was totally stunned. One, because I am pretty sure that I have already caused a few nearly-fatal crashes that have gone unnoticed, and two, because its the POLICE! The police officer was nice, but needless to say I walked that baby the rest of the way to school, and took the next day as a personal day to get the lights fixed. (In case you were wondering, the lights are broken again.)

By the way, a great way to learn the rules is to just ride your bike around. The citizens here would be just pleased as punch to tell you everything you might be doing wrong on your bike. I commonly get such comments as “HEY-NO headphones allowed!” or “The rules say no riding on this sidewalk!” Being the rebel rider that I am, I pay no heed.

I am pretty sure that all of Dinslaken has an alert out for me: the girl with the oversize black coat on, who can commonly be seen weaving around with broken lights and can be heard from a mile away, as her bike wizz-wooshes along the sidewalk. If they listen closely enough, the can also hear the sharp American tongue, putting all sorts of hexes and curses on the man/woman who failed to mention that living in Germany really just means a lot of freaking bike riding.

We do have our arguments, but that sorry excuse for transportation has never failed to get me to my destination. I want to be extremely clear that I hate that thing more than should be described in a public forum. It's awful...I can't wear cute clothes, I can't buy tons of crap and throw it in my trunk to take home, and I clearly have no real clue about what I should really be doing with it. Lets be honest, its a miracle that I haven't been taken to bike jail yet. But it is from this plastic and metal throne that I spend most of my time. With the needles of wind hitting my face and the squeaking of my seat and wheels, I can at least gain some comfort in the fact that I am on my way somewhere.