I've found a net.bar and I thought I'd give everyone an update.
I arrived in Shanghai Monday morning around 11am. There was some
confusion about which bus to take from the airport but I finally got
one that took me "close enough". I had a list of every Giant
Authorized Dealer in Shanghai along with address and had managed to
find three or four reasonably close to the Gubei area of Hongqiao. I
got a taxi to take me to the closest shop on the list (Guilin Road near
Shanghai Teachers' University) and had them put the bike back together
for me. 10rmb.
I was pleased to see that the cheaper bikes I had rejected back in
Haikou were the same price here.
I was also pleased to see that my bike was 1000 rmb more expensive than
anything else in this shop.
Then I bicycled to the Chabad House. I had a bit of a panic because of
the sheer level of construction going on (with services scheduled that
evening) and the fact that the first workman I asked "Is this still the
Jewish Center?" responded by asking me "what is a Jew?" They arranged
for me to stay across the street in an apartment belonging to Star K...
the people who certify that manufactured food is kosher. I'm sharing
the apartment with Chloe from Paris who is up from Nanjing for the
holydays.
Tuesday - the first day of Rosh Hashanah - I obviously did nothing bike
related. My upset stomach from Sunday had been rekindled due to an
excess of good food Monday night and I spent most of the services
shivering in the air-conditioning and falling asleep. If I'd been
perfectly healthy the weather in Shanghai probably still would have
come as a shock to my system after Hainan.
It has only recently turned cold here and I wasn't the only one
suffering. For tashlich (casting bread into water with fish as a
representation of the casting away of last year's sins) no-one wanted
to go outside and one of the Chinese got goldfish and put them in a
large container in the front of the shul.
Wednesday - the second day of Rosh Hashanah - I bicycled to the Gubei
Carrefour to get a rain poncho and to get my sandal repaired. Felt
kind of silly doing it cause it is 'so close' but after walking there
today I discovered that my bad leg is getting tetchier about walking.
I had a bit of a drama finding a parking space. There was an enclosed,
roofed area near the entrance to the underground parking lot but no
watcher. Not with this bike! If there hadn't been a watcher in front
of the McDonalds I would have taken my bike inside (and they simply
would have had to deal with it).
Wednesday afternoon I went in search of Bohdi Bikes and found it,
though it was closed for the holiday. Then I got lost on the way back
and made it almost out to Hongqiao airport (total distance travelled
22.15 km) before eventually getting the right road and finding my
compound.
After services were over Wednesday night I went for a massage on
Shuicheng road. Nice place, came recommended by the guards at the gate
of the compound I'm staying in. A LOT nicer looking than my usual
places in Haikou. They've got actual DECOR with wallpaper even.
However, I had to pay slightly more than twice what I normally pay so
....
After the massage I ended up in the parking lot for the next three
talking with various people from the massage shop - a lot of it about
my bike. (They had to 'just deal' with me insisting on the bike being
inside, which resulted in a lot of curiousity about the bike) Before I
leave Shanghai I'm supposed to come back and get copies of pictures the
one girl took. Including a picture of one of the blind men with my
helmet on backwards being helped by two of the other men to ride my
bicycle across the parking lot. Also a picture of me (in my riding
jersey and shorts) holding my bike over my head while posing with two
or three of them.
Yesterday (Thursday) I accidentally bicycled to Pudong. I'm not
entirely sure how I did this. 43 kilometers of no idea exactly how I
did this. And I have absolutely no clue how I got back. After more
than an hour of being lost the roads all sort of start to blur
together. For the early part of the ride I had a pretty easy time,
riding in the traffic lanes, ignoring the "no bikes" signs on a lot of
the roads, and being waved at (in a pleasant manner) by the traffic
cops when I whizzed past. (I wasn't holding up traffic.)
Later on, on my way back, after a brief cruise along part of the Bund,
I ended up in a dreadful area of tiny streets that were one way for
cars with bicycle lanes in both directions. I think it might have been
the old French Quarter. Almost impossible to do anything more than a
few pedal strokes per minute in the lowest gear and pray for my life.
There were times when I was going so slow due to traffic congestion on
narrow roads that I didn't think the bicycle was going to stay upright.
On one occasion, when turning left (at the discovery that my westbound
street had somehow become a northbound street) I was forced into the
wrong direction cycle lane by a car and ended up having a low speed
collision with a motorcycle. Really low speed. No damage to either
vehicle or either rider but it was still scary and stressy. I kept
trying to get onto the arterials but the traffic cops wouldn't let me.
There were a few times throughout the day where I experienced the
feeling of "I've been lost here before." The last two times I was in
Shanghai when I periodically took the busses, ended up having no idea
where I was and paying lots of money for taxis to take me where I was
going.
I refused to take a taxi. It was a matter of pride. I knew that if I
just kept going west I'd eventually find my way back to Hongqiao.
Around sunset I was bonking and I ended up in an Italian resteraunt
only one kilometer from my destination. My restaurant criteria for the
day had been "looks interesting," "looks clean," "looks cheap," and
"good place to people watch." I hadn't been finding things that met
all four criteria and with only one bottle of coke and a few fried
things from street vendors in my stomach I was definitely getting a
little wonky.
In the time it took the waitress to put the water pitcher back and get
my menu I'd already finished my first glass of water. They ended up
giving me the pitcher. I ended up drinking two pitchersful. After
polishing off a two person pizza I then ordered garlic bread and soup.
When I finished that they were watching me trying to decide if I was
going to order a THIRD meal. I didn't. But I did end up having a half
pound of roast chestnuts twenty minutes later.
I've had no major problem taking the bike inside with me places. Just
have to mention the price. It helps to be carrying my bicycle when I
come in instead of pushing it. When I went to pay my mobile phone bill
there were bike watchers so I didn't need to take it in with me.
However, I still popped the front wheel off, moved it next to the back
wheel, locked both of them to the frame, and put the bike next to the
watcher's chair.
I'm wearing my riding jersey and shorts A LOT. Once I put the shorts
on (cause they are so much comfier than no padding) I may as well put
the jersey on (cause the pockets are in the right place). So much so
that I'm actively looking forward to Bohdi being open tomorrow. Hope
that they will either have clothes for sale (or know who does) because
a) this ain't the most attractive set of spandex, b) I'm not a member
of racing team and feel kind of stupid in racing clothes and c) I'm not
the best at remembering to throw sweaty stuff in the washing machine
and hang it up to dry in time to wear it the next day.
I found my missing glove while packing but I still haven't found my
missing toe clip.
-M