Bike ridden

Yesterday was a particularly nice day for late September in Berlin: I spent most of it in a Kreuzberg-branded t-shirt, because I am still a very obvious tourist in this city. This prompted a question from my fiancée as were having our morning coffee at an almost reasonable hour (before 11am):

Fiancée: Why don’t we rent bikes?

Me: You mean, for an hour?

Fiancée: No.

Brother: You mean, for a day?

Fiancée: No.

Me, jokingly: You mean, for the whole trip?

Fiancée: Yes.

Me: I was just sayin’…

And so we went to the local bike shop: the guy was so incredibly nice, spoke perfect English, gave us our bikes in under 5 minutes, all of that with a smile. He only took cash, though. And off we went to lunch near Checkpoint Charlie - we were meeting a friend in the American territory.

Afterwards, we went (still biking) for dessert in a nearby Einstein kaffee - Berlin’s answer to Starbucks: I had to go. Finally, we strolled towards Neukölln to meet another friend on a rooftop bar so cool I can never pronounce its name (Klunkerkranich: you try…). Getting there was not entirely obvious (to me), so I mostly followed my fiancée (as always) along small streets, river banks and bridges.

At some point, right after we turned 90° left after crossing a bridge, my fiancée ventured into a building project. I followed, then my brother. She immediately turned right behind a huge parked truck, I followed with a wider angle, because I was feeling a little cocky.

Problem was, there was a Smart car hidden behind the truck I had neither seen nor heard. It was driving pretty quick too (i.e. too quick, especially by hip Berlin standards). I had no choice but to abruptly turn my bike right to avoid a potentially unpleasant encounter with a hood. Thus falling right on the floor.

Brother: Are you OK?

Me: Yeah!

Brother: Anything broken?

Me: No!

Brother: Can you stand up?

Me: I think so!

Fiancée, circling back towards me: What did you do wrong?

Me: Why would you immediately assume I was the one who did something wrong?!

Fiancée: Because I know you.

Anyway, we almost made it to the rooftop on time.