Zurich - Another Bicycle (Cresta)

Oerlikon Velo Boerse

My purchase of my flying pigeon (bicycle) in Egypt was quite a success. Consequently, I wondered whether a bike would be a good idea over here as well. The local swimming pool is located just down a path by a river, so it would be a nice place to cycle. The river even eventually leads to just behind my work place – it’s a bit of a long way round, but the journey looks as if it could be quite pleasant in the summer.

The Swiss don’t really like buying things second hand, but bicycles are the one exception. Throughout the year, there are hugely popular “Velo Boerse” (bicycle exchanges) where people gather to sell and buy bicycles. Hundreds of bikes are lined up with prices attached; the sellers pay a percentage of their sale to the organisers. As with anything popular in Switzerland, you are advised to go early because the best bicycles sell first. For the buyer, a second hand bicycle is considerably cheaper than a new one.

I went along, rather late, with no real plan in mind. I started off looking at bikes with baskets, but most of these seemed to have already been sold. Whenever I stopped to look at one, it felt as if five people would immediately appear out of nowhere and also be interested. This was enough to put me off.

I’m still not a confident cyclist, so the idea of trying it out was daunting. The space between the rows of bikes was limited and I didn’t trust myself to be able to cycle in a straight line or not to run over the people who were milling about. I tried one out, but the handlebar seemed so fluid, moving about from left to right with such ease, that I immediately panicked, my heart thumping, dismounted as soon as I could and disappeared as fast possible. Fortunately, no-one was looking.

After that, it took me a while to pluck up the courage to try another one. This time the seat was too high and again I fled from the bike, although the Chinese seller was calling after me, still trying to sell it to me (I did get him to understand my problem in the end!). In fact, even on their lowest settings, most of the bike saddles were too high for me.

I soon ran out of ladies bikes with baskets to look at. It then occurred to me that I could always buy a basket and that it was the bike itself I should be interested in. Doh. I started to look at the other bicycles in a different light.

I eventually found one n a relatively good condition with a low enough saddle. On my hesitant test ride, the handlebar still felt rather fluid but somehow the bike gave off the impression of being solid. I had greater confidence that the wobbliness was truly down to me.

The dealer gave me the hard sell – “the bicycle suits you”, “look at this gadget that lights up when you put on the brakes, that itself costs 70 CHF”, “someone else was going to buy this but I said I couldn’t reserve it for her and she’s just gone to get some money out”. Since I’ve been living in Egypt and am used to this kind of chat, none of this stressed me out (it might have done otherwise); I just found it quite amusing.

He told me how to change the gears, so I tried that, but I reckon my blood pressure rose when he kept on telling me to stop braking. I didn’t really want to be watched and there was no way I wasn’t going to have my fingers clenched on the brakes!

Anyway, I decided to bite the bullet and buy it. At this point, the seller noticed how much shopping I had with me. To my great surprise and joy, he produced a basket and gave it to me for free. Once we’d agreed on the sale, he asked me if I was happy. I said I was very happy (the basket had just made my day).

But that little question gave me pause for thought. Egyptians often check that you’re happy after closing a bargain. Perhaps I should have negotiated on price? It’s not really what you do in Switzerland, but then they don’t really do second-hand items either; also, on reflection the seller looked a bit as if he could be from one of the Arabic countries, so maybe he'd been expecting me to haggle. But it was too late to worry and I was indeed happy. That’s what I’ve learned to focus on after having lived in Egypt.

I hadn’t considered how to get the bike home. I deliberated taking it on the tram, but I wasn’t sure if you needed to get a ticket for the bike or even if bikes were allowed. In the end, I decided to ride it back to get some practice, but on the pavement rather than using the bike lane. I didn’t have a helmet or a lock for it at this point and I was pretty petrified, truth be told.

I was increasingly pleased with it as I cycled – it seemed a lot faster than my Egyptian bike, but also quite solid, somehow. However, I was concerned about whether the police could stop me if they saw me riding on the pavement (was this illegal? I really didn’t know). And although I thought that the compulsory bicycle insurance / tax (vignette) that they used to have in Switzerland had been abolished, I wasn’t too sure, and thus I wondered if I could get fined for not having one yet. In my head, it was all quite complicated and fraught with danger even without taking my lack of cycling skills into account.

I was getting the hang of it quite well, but as I slowed down at a point where I wasn’t sure whether there would be enough room for me to get through, given that I would probably wobble about a bit, the bike tipped and I landed with a thud on the ground, my shopping skidding across the pavement. Two men rushed over to help me while I pretended that everything was fine. The basket detached itself and even now I still haven’t fathomed out how I am going to attach it back. It was tied on before and the tie broke during my fall. I did manage to cycle the rest of the way back, but I don’t know when I’ll have the courage to go on an actual cycle lane.

Nevertheless, I feel that everything is as it should be. Just as my Egyptian bike seems strangely apt in being called a Flying Pigeon, my Swiss bike is called Cresta (reminding me of the top of a mountain) and is emblazoned as “Swiss made” on it (very Swiss in itself!). Its speed and efficiency on hills during my small experience so far also makes me feel that it is a very Swiss bike, just as my Egyptian one is very Egyptian. It’s all good!