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Published: April 2nd 2008
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Me on my new bike
We rode to the river, it was not the cleanest river, but it was fun seeing parts of the city that I have never seen. I know it has been awhile since I posted anything, but not too much exciting going on here. It is finally spring and like most of you, we go from snow, to rain, to fog and everything in between; but I must say, the past week or so, it has been very nice with sunshine and temperatures reaching the lower 50's. We also had time change last weekend so Moscow is back to being 8 hours ahead of Eastern time zone.
With the nicer weather, Leo asked me if I wanted to get a bike so I could tour around the city with the gang. I was originally opposed to it, thinking why should I spend the money on something I will hardly use and most likely not even keep when I go back to the States, but I continue to think about it and also remember a few times last year that I thought it would nice to get around the city by peddle as oppose to walking or bus.
While shopping with Dasha last Friday in Moscow, we stopped in a sporting goods store and I looked at bikes, more or less to get an idea of
Grandpa Bike
It is not as cool as some of the mountain bikes we looked at, but it is a lot more comfortable for an ol'man like me so I nicked named it the grandpa bike.
P.S. Don't you just love the dark purple color?!?! cost and what all I could get. I told Dasha I would not buy a bike without Leo since he asked me so on Saturday Leo took me bike shopping at our local bike shop. There was not a huge selection, but plenty for me. Of course the cheap American, I want to find the cheapest one possible since I do not plan to bring it back to the States with me. Leo and the sales lady are trying to convinence me to at least upgrade a little because the cheap ones are just that, cheap and will never last.
I finally agree after looking at a few so we try a few out for "size"/fit. The two I preferred were about the same in terms of comfortable/fit. They were different brands and colors, but overall, I could not tell much difference between the two; however, I did not really like the long riding feel of either (old age I think). I tell Leo I want to get Freddie's opinion and we put both of them back. The sales lady offers for me to try a "city bike" because the other ones we were looking at were mountain bikes.
Soft Wide Seat
Maybe it is not real wide or that soft, but it is a lot wider the ones I tried out first! And higher handle bars as well.
Assuming the weather stays nice, Freddie, Leo and I are going biking so I will post a few more from our adventures so do check back after this weekend. I told them I wanted something to more or less ride around town with because I was not planning on going mountain biking. I will leave that to the young at heart....lol.
She pulls this dark purple "grandpa" looking mountain bike out to show me. I will be honest, it was ugly compared to the other ones we had been looking at, but I have to admit, it looked more comfortable so I try it out. After sitting on the WIDER and SOFTER seat with the higher handle bars, I am sold on a "city bike." The price was several thousland rubles (~$100) more so I ask if they have any cheaper "city bikes"? She responds that this is last years model and they expected the new ones soon, but she was not sure when. When she said last year's model, that got the American in me to ask, "So, is there a discount so you can get the old ones out before the new ones arrive?" Leo told me we could not ask that question, but I convinence him to proceed with my question and he did. She was not sure but would ask. After a few minutes
Obninsk Biker Gang
Here are the Obninsk Biker's Gang (Oleg, Leo, and Freddie) touring in places I would have never made it on foot or by bus. the manager comes out and asked how much of a discount am I talking about so I asked him how much is he willing to give. He leaves and comes back with an offer of 5%. I was hoping for 10% but he will not go that low. I tell him I will buy all kinds of accessories which have a much higher mark up if he sells me the bike for 10% discount. He can not agree, so I try a different approach. I ask if he will throw in the fenders for free and 5% discount. He thinks about it and says no.
Of course here in Russia, you can not offer to pay cash (as oppose to credit card) because that is all most of the places take is cash so that was not going to work. The manager thought enough about it, I decide to look around to show him I am still interested and see what happens. I was almost ready to buy it with just the 5% discount, but I figure I could always come back and get the discount if I decide to buy it so I would not be out anything
River
I am not sure of the name so I am just going to call it the Obninsk River, which I am sure is not correct, but we rode down to it last night (Friday). You can rent row boats there and there is an interesting looking cafe that I want to check out. The biggest problem, it is down river from the nuclear plant. unless they sold this one, but then I would wait for the new ones to arrive. Well about that time, he comes up and agrees if I buy it today, he will sell it for 5% discount and throw in the 150 ruble fenders so I got a 6.5% discount on the bike and was happy and they made the sale.
I joke with Leo that it looks like the grandpa bike, which is appropriate since I am much older than the rest of the gang. It really does not look that bad, but compared with the modern mountain bikes, it is more for comfort than climbing hills or jumping mud holes. The bottom line, I like it and it rides pretty nice. Thank you Leo for your help!
Later that afternoon, Leo, Freddie and I went for a short tour around Obninsk. I am going to like getting out a little further than I have and seeing different sites, like the snow "mountain" that we have here in Obninsk. It was too muddy for the grandpa bike to get out to the hill but we rode down to it so I could at least see where it
Sunsetting on the River
We were a little too late to see the actual sunset, but it was pretty as it was setting on the river that evening. was located. I will be doing a lot more touring and hopefully show you a few more sites on the blog of Obninsk. If the weather is nice this weekend, we are going to go for a bike run this weekend and will have some pictures to post of grandpa on his bike...lol
Also, next weekend (April 11-13) I am off to Venice so if I do not post anything between now and Venice I am sure I will have new pictures and stories then. Take care and thanks for all of your support.
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Leo of Obninsk
non-member comment
Coolest bike ever
Yo! Dude, ur bike is awesome! I saw some hot chicks looking at u with admiration while we were touring around the city ;)