Made good time today but yesterday burned me out. I have a pain in my right leg that I can’t shake off. Tendons or something or maybe I just have too much time to think. Or maybe the fact that my gears are all screwed up and I only have 5 solid gears to run with has something to do with it. I have to stop in the next shop and get some parts or I’ll be stranded out in the middle of nowhere forging a gear out of raw iron.
The road was good until about 11 am when the pavement seemed to melt due to the suns powerful happiness and the tires of the bike seemed to stick adding a little too much friction. I tried to ride without touching the ground but that didn’t work so I just pushed on hoping to get to Opole soon.
Opole is a lot calmer than the last town with a lot less traffic. I met Emmanuelle and we went to look for a hotel for the night. On our way I checked every store until I found someone willing to repair the gears on my bike. He spent a little time and replaced some broken guides and added a link into my chain that I broke a couple of kms back. He didn’t speak a word of English, French or German but I managed to communicate just fine. I asked him how much for the repairs by waving my arms frantically and barking like a dog, he replied by making a symbol of a boat with his feet and chirping like gopher. I imagined that this meant that it was free so I thanked him by drawing a circle in the sand and we were on our way. Charming fellow, I wish I could speak the language.
Anyway we were in the mood for some familiar food so we ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut and went back to the hotel room. It's about nine right now so I think I'll turn in and get a good night's sleep.
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I woke up this morning with a dry throat. There was no air in the tiny bedroom of an old hotel in Klodzko. The hotel mirrored very well the flavor of this town: rough, dirty and unsafe. I was ready to leave the place a.s.a.p. Chris took me to the train station. It was not easy to find a train to Opole. I had to take a detour through Worclaw and change train there. Again, I got screwed with my ticket; they charged me double of the price of my bike. 3 dollars more is nothing but the idea of being cheated drives me crazy. Any way, the Polish seem a little bit more helpful and nice than the Czechs. A couple of them actually spontaneously offered to help me take out my bike of the train.
I finally arrived in Opole by 11 o clock, a 4 hour ride! Chris is probably going faster than me especially considering that the terrain is quite flat. I wish I could bike today but after yesterday, it's probably better I give my hand a rest. So I rested until Chris arrived by 2 pm.
He was exhausted but content. We had lunch together. It's always a surprise to see what we get for food. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad depending on our luck. This time was ok. Can't go wrong with chicken!
We then looked around town for a hotel and a bike shop to fix Chris's bike. Not an easy task and asking for directions is rather pointless since nobody speaks English. After a couple of hours around town, I was getting cranky and tired. I was starting to loose hope when suddenly a miracle just happened, a bike store, a free part and fix and a hotel. We were set for the night!
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