Thursday 7 August 2014

OOOPS, it did it AGAIN (or Le Velo conks out just before the end of a trip)

For IT read The Bike. For the other IT read BREAK DOWN just before I reach the destination of a trip and the associated airport.  Memories of London and Gatwick !  In the evening I ride the bike into Noordwijk to the Schnitzelparadijs, a HORRIBLY TACKY restaurant aimed at German tourists, where the last non-German guest was observed in 2003; there is no English menu (what's the point?), and even the directions to the toilets are in German. 
Schnitzel House or Peeler Bar. From their website: some event in 2012

All in all, a place I normally keep a safe distance to. So why go there?   Germans are the majority of guests in EVERY restaurant in this town, but this place actually has a very good Rose and a decently priced and very edible Schnitzel.  AND: It has internet that is about 10 times as fast as my hotel internet.  It took several hints to the proprietor the first time I came here that I speak English and NOT German (he actually apologized for not having an English language menu ;-), but on my second visit he remembers me (The Pseudo-Non-German ;-) and greets me in English with "A glass of Rose?" . How could I say NO to such hospitality ?  I do not find it particularly strange that the owner (?) looks distinctly unGerman and that this place and the Mexican restaurant right next door share the same internet, waitresses, and apparently owner.  
From their website: Opening ceremony with a lookalike Heino in the center and the owner on the right.

When I had parked the bike I had noticed something very strange about the pedals. They seemed to move just a bit too easily. Actually, WAAAAAY too easily.  Then it hits me: There is no friction between the pedals on their cranks on the bottom bracket and the rest of the drive train.  I can't even ride this bike as a regular (Non-E-bike) anymore.   If that does not call for a good glass of Rose then I don't know what does !!!



After dinner, I have to realize that this was no illusion caused by low blood sugar or any other medical condition.  The bike is broken AGAIN.  Tomorrow would have been my last day of cycling. 44 km to Amsterdam. The forecast calls for rain.   Hmm. I guess I won't get wet and I'll be bringing a broken boxed bike back to Vancouver AGAIN.

No comments:

Post a Comment