Two tired and thirsty bikes . . .
Actually it was more like two tired and thirsty first-time-in-years cyclists (2 years for me, about 20 for Nog) . I took this photo after we’d stopped for a cold beer at a little outdoor bar in a park near the river. All in all we were out about two and a half hours but the first half hour or so was spent trying to find a bike station that had any bikes. I guess early Saturday evening is a popular time to go out for a bike ride.
And the reason this is our first time out since I mentioned sending in our applications over here on this post is because Nog just got his card this week. First they lost his application and then the card went missing and they had to send out a duplicate. So we basically missed out getting to use the bikes while we were on holiday, but at least we can go out cycling now.
Anyhow, it was great fun and good exercise. Even though we’re both quite pooped it’s a nice tired feeling. So off to veg a bit and watch yet another episode of The West Wing (latest television series addiction).
casa azahar 
the West Wing was one of our absolutely favorite tv series, and we are both devastated that it is no longer in syndication. Great, great show.
LikeLike
They’ve just started showing series 5 here but we are trying not to watch it. We started off buying the first series on dvd to try it out and are now well into the second. Then we found out there were 8 series! Yikes, that’s going to end up being quite expensive …
Anyhow, as soon as we finish that much needed life-restoring first cup of coffee we’re going out to the Horno (which means oven in Spanish, btw) for brekky and then out for another bike ride. 🙂
LikeLike
Honestly, gotta get this bike thing down. Yesterday we walked all over the place looking for a bike station that had bikes and then today discovered that on the computerized panels where you swipe your card to rent a bike it also shows the nearest station with available bikes. Duh.
This morning after brekky we went to the nearest station and there were actually TWO BIKES there – yay! Except the panel thingy said there was only one bike available and after checking things out we saw that whoever had parked the second bike last hadn’t engaged the lock. Our first response was – yay, a freebie! – until we realised that the hapless soul who’d parked the bike badly was still being charged for the rental. So okay, being nice guys that we are, we locked it up properly and then swiped the card so it would be charged to us.
Headed out with our two bikes … only to discover that the front tire on my bike was almost flat. So I said to Nog – “no problem, we’ll just bike over to the next station and swap bikes”.
But when we got there and locked up the flat tire bike the computer panel thingy kept telling me I had to park and lock one bike before taking out another one. But I’d already done that! And so after much faffing around and even calling the help-line (which it turned out doesn’t have a live telephone person working on Sundays) I finally realised I was using the wrong card – mine instead of Nog’s – double duh!
Live and learn … in the end we had a very nice bike ride along a few of the new city bike paths, and we also spent some time riding around Maria Luisa Park.
Another cool thing is when I check my account on the website it not only shows how much time I spent cycling but also how many kilometres I travelled. So yesterday’s outing was actually 14 kms – much more than I thought it was.
Anyhow, it was a lovely Sunday morning spent working off the rather hefty breakfast (second pic from the top) we’d had at the Horno. And Nog is very pleased with himself that – so far – he hasn’t fallen off once! Showing that it’s true what they say about learning to ride a bicycle. 🙂
LikeLike
But I am saddle sore. And my arms are surprisingly achy. Much more than my legs, oddly enough.
But it was kinda nice to discover I could still ride.
LikeLike
Never mind The West Wing…we’re getting the final series of The Sopranos now. 😛
LikeLike
Yeah so what who cares not me…
LikeLike
Um… unless you happen to be taping it for us?
LikeLike