Sarah Howell

This weekend I realized that it was going to be worth the money to try to find a bike. The campus and surrounding areas are totally accessible by walking, however I felt that I would be able to do a lot more exploration of the surrounding region and towns if I had a bicycle. The places we go by bus (which is about 60-100 NOK round trip, the equivalent of $10-12) are accessible by bike, if one is willing to get a work out. Having a bike would allow me to enjoy the remaining sunlight and good weather before winter sets in, and if I can get used to riding my bike in the snow, I could even get around when it gets colder/rainier/snowier. 

So, I went onto this website which is the equivalent of Craigslist, and located a bike that was in a neighboring town of Drøbak. I wrote an email in my pigeon-norsk and was thrilled when I received a reply! The woman was nice, had studied in LA for a few years, and was happy that there was an American here in the area. I rode the bus and met her to check out the bike. It needs a little bit of work, but is in fairly good condition. I needed to inflate the tires, but I decided to ride back to Ås and find a gas station along the way to fill them up. 

I, however, did not find a gas station to fill up the tires, thus the ride proved to be a bit more of a challenge and workout than I had planned. The gears needed some grease, so when I got back home, I went to the store and found some WD-40, which seems to have worked okay. I still have not been able to fill up the tires yet. Oh, well. Maybe tomorrow 🙂

Hopefully there will be more biking adventures to come before the colder and rainier weather sets in.