I’m half crazy, hopeful in love with you
It won’t be a stylish marriage
I can’t afford the carriage
But you look sweet upon the street
On a bicycle built for two
We will go tandem as man and wife
Pedaling our way down the road of life
-Blur
birdMAN rarely romanced me with flowers, jewelry, perfume,
or anything like that. When I started attending college at a town famous for
bicycles, he bought me a basic bike. We soon married, and we invested in some
decent mountain bikes. We typically spent a weekend morning in nearby canyons traversing
what I thought was pretty hardcore terrain. After three years of marriage, we bought a
home in a small town surrounded by farmland and flanked by a small mountain
range. We then embraced road cycling, even wearing spandex clothes which
emphasize every bodily flaw. We participated in several 100-mile rides. We
spent a couple weeks bicycling in Yunnan and Guanxi, China for vacation.
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| Previous Bicycling Ventures - Germany, Greece, Portland, California Sierras |
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| 2010 Bicycling China |
By the time we sold our home last summer, we had accumulated
three bikes each. So you might say bicycling has been a major part of our
marriage. For us, the bicycle cycle has fully cycled. We are back living in a
college area brimming with university students who use bikes for
transportation. And we are back on our beater bikes, rolling up the right pant
leg so it doesn’t get greased up in the chain.
Buying a bicycle in China is a different than buying one in
the US. First, we would spend a few months
researching performance, components, frames, etc. Second, we would set aside a lot of money
for the big purchase. In China, we can’t read Chinese, we can’t speak Chinese, and
we aren’t sure how long we are sticking around. So research involves asking our
expat friends their opinions and set a bike budget on par with a Chinese
lifestyle.
Again we relied on our friend Xialian, who has bought four
bicycles during her time in China. First she asked us, “Do you want a real
bike, or a fake bike?” China is full of knock-offs, and you get what you pay
for. We visited several bike shops (Xialian knows all the shops). birdMAN
picked up bikes, sat on bikes, and rode the bikes. By the third day here, we
were so tired of standing on buses and subways that having bicycles was
becoming desperate. Despite our desperation, birdMAN had some requirements
before purchase. These requirements were: fenders, brakes that work, multiple gears,
well-built with a solid bottom bracket. We found several bicycles that met none
of these, until we ended up in an upscale bike shop that you could mistake for
being in the US (except everyone spoke Chinese).
The walls were a muted green promoting trust and warmth. The
salespeople were friendly and helpful. They almost had birdMAN sold on a set of
solid, genuinely brand bikes each costing about 900 RMB ($134 USD). Before
you say, “That’s cheap!” Remember, we are now in China on a China budget. I
balked. Can’t we get something cheaper? Ok, birdMAN agreed to try the last
place on Xialian’s bike shop list. We got back on the bus and of course we
stood on our tired feet for another ride.
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| Mmmhhh - which bicycle? |
Xialian led us to a hodge-podge street section, where all
store merchandise is outside and most of it looking dusty and rusty. We passed
electric scooters, other large equipment, and children playing while people
yelled at us trying to lure us to their shop. I thought, “What bike shop is
this? Where is she taking us?” Then we turned down an alley with garage-like
structures filled with bicycles and salespeople. So we started looking at
bikes. Most of them were knock-offs. It is pretty obvious when the label reads “GANT”
when the real name is “GIANT”, a major bicycle brand.
We came to a garage/shop
owned by a tallish smoking man. Of course he was Chinese. We were the only 老外 (lǎowài
outsider) in the vicinity. Three
young girls, perhaps his daughters, were responsible for keeping the bicycles
orderly and attaching reflectors and baskets. At this shop, I found a GIANT
brand bicycle of solid construction with 3-gears. It seemed real and there was
only one. The smoking shop owner offered us a cigarette and helpfully grabbed
another bike for birdMAN. This one was an obvious fake. It was unsteady, didn’t
shift well, and had misspellings all over the frame. “多少?” (duō shǎo, how
much), we asked. He wanted 900 RMB for the two bikes. birdMAN balked. He was not crazy about that bicycle. birdMAN cares
about quality. He much rather pay a few extra dollars to get something he likes
than settle for something cheap, especially for something for high-use.
Xialian noticed that this particular shop also had a few
used bikes, among which was a genuine Giant. birdMAN tried it and instantly
noticed the superior construction. This bike met all the requirements except it
had no basket. Oh well, not a deal breaker. The shop owner wanted more for this
bike; after all, this one was genuine. birdMAN pulled out 900 RMB, and
indicated this was all we had. OK, deal.
We have had bicycles for a whole week, and have not crashed
into anything. birdMAN being a lǎowài, however,
did cause a crash. While birdMAN passed a cyclist on a heavy traffic road, the
cyclist started staring. He was so distracted that his tires skimmed into the
curb and he went flying. Fortunately, he flew into some bushes and appeared
unscathed.
Chinese word of the blog: 自行车 zì xíng chē (literally, self go car)
English
translation: Bicycle
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| 2009 San Francisco, California |
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| More California Bicycling |
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| Bicycle Shop Alley - That's birdMAN back there trying a ride |
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| Bikes are good for shopping |
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| Our sweet new rides |
