Bike Ride on the Danube Island

We borrowed a couple of bikes from B's sister. They haven't been ridden in a while so the tires were flat and airing them up was a problem, with the hand pump we had. The upstairs neighbor came to the rescue with his hi-tech pump w/integral gauge so just the right amount of air got shoved into the old tires. Emphasis on "old," as we found out later...

I like riding women's bikes because they don't have that horizontal bar across the top that makes it impossible to swing your legs through. WTF are there different bikes for men and women? Can someone in the bike world tell me about this? Anyhow, I hoped nobody would notice I was riding a "girl's bike." Somehow I'm still concerned about shit like that. But less and less. Pretty soon I'll be wearing black socks and Bermuda shorts, and then it'll be too late to ever be cool again.

The Danube Island is a big recreation area. You can jog, rollerblade, ride bikes, swim, go boating, even do wakeboarding, pulled along by cables strung high overhead. There are a couple of nude beaches but we didn't ride through them this time. Maybe we'll ride through twice next time.

There are several bike-pedestrian bridges that cross the Danube over to the island.

My fascination with river life continues: guys painting a huge empty barge.
Enlarge pic and find the guys to get a sense of scale---a big barge!

They have a lot of different events on the island. Right now there's some kind of Africafest going on---we thought we'd check it out but you have to pay to get in, unlike the huge Donauinselfest which is Europe's largest free event.

Perfect weather for a bike ride----low 70s, I'd say. A tailwind most of the way, and a light headwind on the ride back. 

There were a number of these little "cabin boats" moored in the river.

Little vacation homes on the water.

These wakeboarders were pulled along by overhead cables, not boats.

We were out about 90 minutes and then headed back. Crossing the bridge from the island, B's front tire went flat. There were no punctures. I tried pumping it up but it wouldn't hold air, so we walked the bikes back. We decided to try for a bike shop on the other side of the bridge, a kilometer or so down along the Danube. I rode ahead and found out we'd have time to get there before they closed. All in all B had to walk her bike about 3 kilometers or so and by the time we got to the bike shop the tire was off the rim and it was hard to roll the bike.

The guy at the shop said the tires were so old they wouldn't hold air. He lightly pressed the flat one and you could see the cracks in the sidewall; the rubber had lost its elasticity over the years. He checked my bike and said the tires were still good but B would need two new tires and tubes. 

"How much?" she asked the guy.

"No more than 100 Euro," he said. About $130. Shit is expensive here...

We walked back home, had some leftover chili and a beer for supper. My legs felt the ride, and I had that kind of pleasant exhaustion you get when you've done some decent physical exercise. It really was an enjoyable outing, despite the fucked up tires. Her bike should be ready by Wednesday and I hope we can take another ride then.