How to Find a Bike Shop

Today was a gotta get-er-done kind of day. Thank goodness for having the bike here, it's allowed me to get so much more done in a shorter period of time (and take a multitude of wrong turns) with the additional benefit of feeling great at the end of the day.

I mentioned before about the difficulty in reading street signs and maps. It really is tricky here since there are quite a few roads named the same as a road running next to and parallel to it. I could really use a better street map, too, since on this one, all of the little streets aren't labeled and those are critical for getting oriented in a very complicated town with a million little streets.

There were two leads on apartments this morning in my email so I needed to get to town to check those out. I rolled into town at 12:50. Town closes down (almost completely) at 1 pm (and some doors get locked early). I managed to get my phone to reject its SIM card (it cost 8 euros to undo the damage I did, grrrrr)...and I didn't have use of the phone all day since the Vodafone store closed at 1pm.

Moments after I entered the main piazza, I saw three guys on their road bikes, complete with Euro-cool kits (jerseys and shorts) and bandannas instead of helmets, no gloves, thin and tan. Definitely racers. If anyone knows where a bike shop is (like the kind I'm looking for), these guys will know. So I rode after them and asked if they know where the nearest shop is...I asked in Italian, it's feeling a bit more comfortable to try (though most Italians understand my English better than Italian). One guy knows barely enough English that communication is possible. He said that they'll ride past the shop in a nearby town, but it's closed, of course. I jump on their wheels and follow them down, around and out of the city center. This feels similar to yesterday when I was on the motor-scooter zipping through the winding roads.

Throughout this ride, I'm trying to figure out how I can communicate anything to them. "Hey, you guys have girl friends who ride bikes?" or "When are the fun group rides?" or simply "I might not look like it (um, with the helmet and totally uncool vest), but I'm one of you, pleeeeease let me ride with you again." No, I got nothin' to say (this is a first if you ride with me).

The nearby town is a few kilometers away, not too far. Happens that there are two shops. I notice a child's tricycle in the first one and the guy says there are two shops. So which one is the best? The other one. We ride to that one. It's got a descriptive English name: "Racing Bikes." I express my thanks at their showing me the shop...the guy says they just did one thousand kilometers (of course, he meant 100 kilometers which is around 66 miles) and they ride off. No leads for bike riding buddies, rides or anything, but the location of the shop is priceless. This is a good first step. Lately, all I can do is be happy with making progress, no matter how small. It'll be another few days before I actually get to go inside of the shop and I'm anxiously awaiting that day (amazing enough, my tubes have just enough pressure still in them).

The ride back to the city center is up, up, up. Takes a lot longer to get back (now the second time today that I've made this vertical trip) and I spend a bunch of time finding the apartments. The first one is inexpensive and further out from the center of town, but I can't get the landlord on the phone to arrange a meeting. I like the location a lot (allows for better bike riding). Off to the second place, it involves riding up some almost too-steep-to-ride roads (these roads cause the Fiats some trouble ascending).

Before the meeting, I grabbed gelato (instead of lunch). Sadly, this one was disappointing--icy, not creamy. Flavors: limone (lemon--very tart, I liked the flavor) and what I think is mirtillo, blueberry.

This apartment is very centrally located, a bit more than I want to pay, but a huge perk: the girl who lives there is a good friend of a girl I've gotten to know while I've been staying here. The girl is dutch and knows something like four languages. I haven't gotten to meet her, but the landlord is a sweet woman and I feel comfortable with this. I've committed to a month here. That will buy me time to see if I can find something else less expensive, it will give me a chance to see how important the location is AND I'll find out how much a fan of second-hand smoke I am. She smokes as does almost everyone here.

Town was hopping this evening, it was so full of life and energy (though too many middle and high schoolers, methinks). They're getting ready for Easter-related festivities. I can think of nowhere I'd rather be for Easter than Italy.

Time to go pack up and get ready for yet another adventure this weekend. Will leave a lot here so as to travel light and attempt a stress-free journey.