Tag: bike

riding a scooter

“seriously ana… did you do nothing but eat in thailand?!”

pretty much — but let’s give it a break and talk about something else for a change. in between meals, temple-hopping and other shenanigans, i discovered my love for riding on the back of a scooter!

these were practically the only way to cheaply move around the island (€5/day, gas not included), so we decided to give a try, and lo and behold, it was a blast. the first rides were scary, sure, holding onto the boy for dear life… but the strangeness of it quickly gave way to delight as we zoomed around with our friends. after a few rides, i could already navigate with one hand while taking pictures with the other! :D here’s a 10 second clip from the gopro:

the village roads are chaotic, with people and traffic coming in from all sides, but my favourites were the small roads between the coconut plantations, where water buffaloes grazed and birds did their thing.

the videos do a poor work of showing the pure joy that was riding then, and we found ourselves making excuses to ride just a bit more each day. i even (briefly) considered getting an electric vespa for our trips to the butcher or into town back home… but the traffic on the 125 is still way too scary for me to venture out like that. well, who knows — maybe someday! :)

in portugal just life

a bike for algarve

i’ve been bikeless for a year now, after selling my beloved raleigh when leaving germany. but a few weeks ago, i joined a local gym that is just far enough that i don’t want to walk there… and yet close enough that it would be ridiculous to go by car… hence, the final push for finally buying the bike!

after some searching, i’ve found a portuguese brand that does just the kind of bike i was looking for. meet the órbita classic:

it’s sort of a dutch bike, with not-quite-moustache handles but close. it’s simple, comfortable to ride upright and not too heavy. i miss the back pedal brake of my previous bikes, but this one has gears, which is a nice bonus!

it’s still missing the basket for the market trips, but so far, so good. i look forward to many nice rides around the ria formosa! :)

in germany traveling

cycling around berlin

so many beautiful paths, so many possibilities!

in germany

a bike for berlin

i’ve had quite a few bikes throughout the years and the countries… but i had never had a real dutch bike. i dreamed of it, so pretty and elegant… so, when we came to berlin, i made a point that this would be the country where i would choose a dutch bike. well, here she is, straight out of a nearby second hand shop:

it’s actually a raleigh, which means it’s a british bike, from one of the oldest bike companies in the world. but nevertheless, the concept is pretty much what i wanted: a simple & sturdy bike, with pedal brakes and a sort of moustache handle, that i can ride upright (and not bent forward, like on mountain bikes).

it’s been a pleasure to ride it around :)

in slovenia

i can haz a pony!

Relics of old Yugoslavia, Rog bikes are still all over the place in LJ (local slang for the Slovenian capital). You can hear varying degrees of metallic rattling emanating from these hunks of stainless steel, and of course the unmistakable trill of their antique – and more or less obligatory – bells. The point is, there are actually still loads of the older models trundling around Ljubljana’s cobbled back-streets and major thoroughfares, which, 18 years and counting since the factory closed, only confirms the communist engineering ethic: ‘build it like a tank’ – build it to last.

Perhaps Rog’s most cherished model, the Pony, with its dinky frame and comically undersized wheels, is definitely the cutest. You see everyone, from petite female students to lanky businessmen in three-piece suits to centenarian grandmothers, perched on their springy seats. You see these prancing Ponies in every colour, sometimes having been painted over numerous times.

from Ljubljana in your pocket guide.

ever since a friend told us about pony’s, i’ve been seeing them everywhere i look, obsessing about these cute little bikes. we searched bolha.com for days, until we found a couple of them in mint condition, and relatively cheap. (why are bicycles so ridiculously overpriced these days?)
anyway, it was practically love at first sight! mine is a more recent rog model, slightly bigger than the more typical ponys, but just as charming. i plan to put a lot of mileage in it :)

now we only need a couple of locks and a basket, and off we go!