September 8, 2024
Miles: 44.52. Total: 6,636.
We cut this ride short when the crotch of my biking shorts disintegrated into an unsightly web of holes—a consequence of my unequal leg lengths. Not known as a shopping mecca, Bratislava nevertheless offered up a new pair of shorts at a well-stocked bike shop. Thank you, Muziker Bike, for literally saving my ass!
Before this turn of events, Howard and I gleefully muscled into the headwind along the Danube, eager to cross another border. The one between Austria and Slovakia started out subtle: just a small, blue sign on the freeway that said "Slovakia" with the EU circle of stars.
But about 150 feet later, the bike path degraded into uneven slabs with cracks and potholes. Then, our route to the bike shop entailed a traverse across a rickety pedestrian bridge with a pile of trash at the end, followed by a bushwhack across train tracks and through a sketchy alley. It reminded me of both Moscow in the 1990s and San Francisco in April.
In other words, I feel strangely at home here.
Comments