There is an old bike at work that has been sitting there for the past 2 weeks. I asked another stagiaire who said we could use it. I brought it home with me today, or rather rode it home. The tires were a bit flat and the brakes were very loose. I asked my landlord if he had a pump that I might fix the tires a bit which he did have. He also showed me his families bikes which he said I was free to use, if I fixed them up :-).
I spent the rest of the night with his tools first fixing the bike I rode in from the VKI and then working on his bikes. The oldest one (from like 1950 or something) is also fixed and in working order now. Nothing too much wrong with it. However the bike has to be continously pedalled (even when braking), or else the chain comes off. Its a problem with the derailer I guess, or it's the older style. It got late as I was fixing the second of his bikes, and he had a broken part on the brake that I wasn't quite able to repair or fix, so the brakes are worthless for now. I had a lot of fun this evening doing that. Man I miss Douglas's bike expertise though.
Both of his bikes had a contraption on them that I hadn't seen which is pretty cool to me. It was a little device that spins (a generator) when the bike is moving and powers a headlight and taillight for the bike.
My other option for the night had he not had a bike pump or tools was to go into Brussels to on of the rock climbing gym. I'll probably do that one day next week.
Weekend plans!!
Tomorrow (Friday) Kan and I will be in Flanders (the Flemish region), this weekend. First we goto Ghent after work. We are staying in a hostel there. We will stay in Ghent for most of Saturday and then take the train to Bruges. We stay in a hostel in Bruges and will return on Sunday.
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