Cycling in Berlin (Without Breaking Your Collarbone)

Transcript

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Manuel:
[0:09] So Jay Jack, Jack Jae. You literally met three seconds ago. Man is also for what? Yeah.

Jae:
[0:13] Nice to Virtually Meet you Jack.

Jack:
[0:14] Met is also a very strong word for what just happened. Yeah, I feel like I have been served in supermarkets by people who have met more. Mm hmm.

Manuel:
[0:22] More so yeah, we should introduce you Jack you are in Berlin by choice. You are originally from Australia.

Jae:
[0:23] Yeah.

Jack:
[0:28] Are Berlin banks.

Jae:
[0:31] What's the Alternative.

Jack:
[0:35] This is true. It wasn't, it was like a forced accidental choice which I don't regret.

Manuel:
[0:40] Which to tell us a little bit more. Yeah, it was bye in the UK and.

Jae:
[0:43] A force accident choice?

Jack:
[0:45] Yeah, it was forced upon me by visa problems in the UK and then once it happened I was like wow this is actually better.

Manuel:
[0:54] Like wow, this is actually it's better.

Jack:
[0:58] And then I never left, it just kept getting more longer and longer and longer.

Manuel:
[1:02] More long in the.

Jack:
[1:04] And then I slowly became one of those expats in like.

Manuel:
[1:08] Had,
he's doing quotation marks with his fingers.

Jack:
[1:11] Yeah, quotation marks, immigrants where they where I, I am am horrific at the local language But have lived here for nearly 10 years. Oh god.

Jae:
[1:22] So my question to you, Jack How long did it take for you to feel like established in Berlin especially if you were like not necessarily planning on being there. Like how long did it take you to feel like you were actually a part of the city?

Jack:
[1:34] I would say it happened, it went into quite distinct phases because I was here for a few years,
when I started working and I started living and I moved into the apartment where I still live now and I got like a solid base and then I actually came out,
half like a few years after that and then my like second phase of Berlin started as like a gay man in Berlin which very much like cemented my feeling of,
comfort here for sure or just like I don't know that was when I really felt like I proper cemented myself here.
But that was also when I became more in touch with me as a person I suppose so that was after three years but I don't like I still wanted to live here forever and do everything even before that so.

Jae:
[2:22] For sure.

Jack:
[2:33] Berlin I think would be where I wanted to be, even if I was closeted.

Jae:
[2:36] That's definitely that's a topic we could talk about all day.
Um definitely. I would say when I was there for maybe five days and I felt a lot more, I would say, just in tune with myself, it's a great place for self discovery and I feel like self acceptance as well, because it's so diverse.

Berlin'S Diversity

[2:55] Um and it's so inclusive that like, even if you feel out of place, I guarantee you there's someone who feels even more out of place, which makes you feeling more in place a little bit easier, you know?

Jack:
[3:04] Yeah. Yeah, I definitely feel, I feel like the word diverse for Berlin is different to the word diverse.
Or like when you describe a city like London as or paris as diverse, I think you feel it feels more diverse when you're walking around the street and you're seeing a lot of different people who will look very different in Berlin.
When I first moved here after living in London, it did not feel diverse.
It was like I was like, oh my God, what what? Like it was unbelievably homogeneous.
And then, but then once you slowly discover the city, you feel that the way people think is much is diverse here, I would say.
And it has become more also culturally diverse over the years.
But it is, it is a weird place and you feel, I don't know, it's a place to like paris is superficially beautiful.
You go there and you walk around, you're like, yeah, oh my God, everything is so beautiful.
The people, the buildings and then in Berlin you get here, you're like, what the hell?
It's ugly as fuck. Like why do people, why are people living here? It's so great, especially in the winter.

[4:24] It's quite traumatic. But then you learn to love it and because you have like you've learned to love it in a way and you see it's like inner beauty, you, I don't know feel stronger for the city for sure.

Manuel:
[4:38] This has gotten really deep really fast, I love it.

Jae:
[4:40] I love that um How did you guys meet?

Manuel:
[4:45] We met at Apple, we both started working in the Berlin Apple Store in 2012 and Jack was already an Apple employee because he came from the UK.

Jack:
[4:45] Mm hmm. Yeah.
Mhm.

Manuel:
[4:57] I was just starting and it was a really good time because we started there, but we couldn't actually work in Berlin yet.
Um it was a very weird situation and so they sent us around Germany to travel and I have very vivid memories of Jack and I being in hamburg and like goofing around in the subway station, me trying to make you say fred resign,
I still have that video, I can pull it up maybe.

Jack:
[5:24] Oh my God, I would love to see those videos. Such a child.

Manuel:
[5:25] Um and you were such a baby like looking at this video Good.

Jack:
[5:29] Oh my God, Berlin definitely also ages you like, I don't know when you check when you, when I look at old pictures and like what happened, what happened.

Manuel:
[5:33] No, you're still a baby but.

[5:40] Yeah, what else jay.

The Value Of Free Time

Jae:
[5:43] UM What do you enjoy Doing the Most in Berlin.

Jack:
[5:47] What I enjoyed doing the most in Berlin I think.

[5:54] I mean I enjoy cycling a lot, which is handy, which is very handy for today's topic.

Manuel:
[5:57] Which is what we're going to talk about Yeah.

Jack:
[6:03] I think what I enjoy most is my free time in Berlin, which I did not have when I lived in London, I used to work all the time and I loved it.
And then when I moved to Berlin and I saw and I,
clicked with the different pace of the city and I realized that, hey, I actually don't have to be at work all the time too afford to live here or two exist, which definitely is not the case in London.
Uh, I then became much more,
conscious of my like time outside of work and where I want to be and what I want to do and how much more valuable this time is and how much more valuable your life is when you're not at work like this,
the days or the weeks that you're on holiday when you're not at work, they feel like years,
and then a week at work can pass by in a second, you're like, oh my God, but like you just experienced a whole like the same week of your life, but one was meaningful and full of new things and one was just,
blink and it's over.
So I think my free time is definitely something that I never want to give up.

Jae:
[7:21] I feel you, I mean that free time, free time is I think very important.

Jack:
[7:22] Never, ever.

Jae:
[7:25] I think the Covid taught me that definitely of just like how valuable it is and like,
how much and if if you utilize it the right way and this is why I really like Berlin because there's a lot to do,
if you utilize it the right way, you can really discover a lot more about yourself about the city, about your passions, about your creativity whenever you just kind of let yourself explore, like the thing I'm excited the most to do when I get to Berlin is simply explore, like not really have,
an agenda, but just see what's out there and just see what like calls to me.

Jack:
[7:56] Yeah, I think that's a good idea. I mean, it's hard. I think I spoke, I heard you talking on the first episode about when you went out when you first came to Berlin and you um and you really felt much more yourself and I can definitely relate.
And I think that there are people you'll meet in Berlin in places that you I can't like, Yeah,
in places that you didn't know that you would be kind of and then you'll remain friends with them for so long and they'll be very change your life I think.

Jae:
[8:27] Yes, exactly, ok, now my whole thing about exploring kind of can lead into like our first question about how do you explore Berlin.

How To Explore Berlin

Jack:
[8:34] Yeah, So, I mean, I do as much as I possibly can on my bike because I'm very impatient and I love the idea of public transport,
but the reality, I mean, I love public transport much more than I like, cars are just like not a thing in my mind.
I grew up in Australia where you had to have a car to get around and the realities of having a car. So annoying public transport. Next best thing. Great.

Jae:
[8:59] Very annoying, I agree.

Jack:
[9:02] But what I can't stand, especially in the winter is waiting for the next bus on the next train.
And so those downtime periods I just can't deal with. And when I was in London I lived with a bike messenger and they got me into cycling around the city and just,
getting and as soon as I started cycling through the streets, you get to know the city so much better, you connect all these different spots that you knew kind of as little bubbles and that kind of changed my whole,
my like whole lifestyle around exploring cities.
I no longer use public transport. It was all bye bye.
I would take my bike on holiday. I almost, oh no, I didn't have my bike when I was in Houston and I'm glad I did because I think it would have been useless,
but I did have it when I went with my bike to new york and I've had it in London and Berlin and paris.
And so I would say cycling around is the only way to go.

Manuel:
[10:07] I I really agree on your point that it gives you a different image of the city, because public transport is great.
It's very efficient, in a way. Yes, you have to wait. But also the next subway is usually only 5-10 minutes away.
But since you're traveling underground for most of the time, you never kind of connect the dots, like you said, like, okay, now this is this station, and then when you start cycling, you're like,
oh, you see the subway station from the outside and you're like, okay, that's what this looks like from above the ground.
Now, I understand like the route that I've been taking for the past six months now, I understand what's happening and it's I mean, it's so simple really, but it makes a huge difference.

Jack:
[10:49] Just my whole I was just traveling with some friends and we were in a city where no one rides.
So I mean people do right, but we couldn't right? We lived in the suburbs, suburbs kind of and so we did everything by bus or by car.
And I was completely lost the entire time in the city.
I could not get my bearings because my sense of direction was wholly dependent on what way I got out of the bus and it would always be different.
And it was a city where there was a coastline. So theoretically it should have been quite easy to be like, oh yeah, that way is the beach, that means this way is north this way south. Okay. I got it, got it, got it, but it was impossible and with a bike that just doesn't happen.

Jae:
[11:26] That's fair. So I am coming from um a world where I've never, ever had to use a bike, I've always had my car.
So aside from it being like kind of, you get to kind of enjoy the city a little bit more um what are the top pros of it in terms of costing in terms of like eco friendliness, in terms of like,

Berlin'S Cycling Infrastructure

[11:48] um exploring this city of a little bit more, and also where the cons like what type of what kind of held you back from getting a bike um in the beginning?

Jack:
[11:58] I mean before I I started cycling in London, I never could have imagined cycling in London because,
the road seems so insane and it's not like in Berlin where the roads are huge and so there's much more space.

Manuel:
[12:15] Okay for the record, the cycling infrastructure in Berlin is also a disaster really, it is improving.

Jack:
[12:19] Also, It has really jumped leaps and bounds like just within the last, like I would say the last 6 to 12 months, it's like they just discovered paint and they have been like, oh my God, we have a lot of space.

Manuel:
[12:28] Yeah, we, it just hit the road.

Jack:
[12:31] We could just paint the roads and make them all for cyclists.

Manuel:
[12:34] All the problem with paint is that you can easily ignore it and what.

Jack:
[12:38] This is true. I think there was like some weird gorilla setups that the city did during Covid where they somehow tricked people into accepting bike lanes on streets that I don't know if they were, they're meant to be there.

Manuel:
[12:41] Realistic during stamp trip people into accepting Yes,
but they create really why.

Jack:
[12:51] But they created these really wide, really spacious, disconnected from the cars, bike lanes during Covid.

Manuel:
[12:57] In, in a few places, very few places you.

Jack:
[13:00] In a few but a very few key places for where I live, which does feel like a very far long way from where you live.

Manuel:
[13:06] Yes.

Jack:
[13:07] But it has really, really improved like internally within the city, I would say.

Manuel:
[13:09] It has really, really, yeah. Mhm but hearing just jay you say, you know, you've never really cycled in a city,

Safety

[13:20] I would really say, hey, safety is like, I feel like,
Jack and I while Jack especially cycles very confidently and um, but it's a little bit, you know, those taxi drivers who kind of drive like, like they're mad yet they somehow don't have accidents.
I don't know if that's even true, maybe that's a, that's kind of an urban myth, but the myth goes okay, they're so good at it, right?
Because they've been doing it for years and they're doing it kind of around the clock and so they see things that a normal person doesn't see, I kind of feel like, you know, Jack is a very,
good cyclists and I also cycle a lot and so I would just say when you're new in Berlin definitely cycle, but be very defensive, never, never like because doors are opening, people are making right turns, you never can count on,
people seeing you and giving you the right of way.

Jack:
[14:12] I mean, I think it's a big thing. Confidence is Key 100% and also taking up your own space, making sure that you aren't you.

Manuel:
[14:15] Is 10% what your own space,
you are right.

Jack:
[14:24] You also have a right to be on to be where you are.
And if you feel confident you'll give yourself enough space so that if someone does open the door, you're not gonna, it's not gonna hit you, you might be take, you might be in the lane of traffic, but that is safer.

Manuel:
[14:28] You.

[14:33] Absolutely one m.

Jack:
[14:39] Than trying to give the car just enough space so that they think, oh, I could squeeze.

Manuel:
[14:39] Try just 100%, I cycle in the middle of the lane, one m distance to the parking cars and then the passing cars need, in theory too,
to do another meter and a half of distance to you.
And that means sometimes often that they will have to wait. They'll have to wait until there's no oncoming traffic. That's fine.
They can wait. It's like, and maybe we can go into a little bit of detail if there is a if there's a sign, like if there's a bike path and that bike path has a blue sign, um, I'll put it maybe as the chapter art here.
If there's like a blue bicycle sign,
that means you have to use the bike path, but very often that sign isn't there,
and it's not there for a reason because it's often just a tiny bike path that's of terrible quality and honestly less safe than the road.

Jack:
[15:30] Yeah, the bike paths can be trash. Yeah, honestly less.

Manuel:
[15:36] And you don't have to use the bike path in that moment, you can use the road and it's fine.

Jack:
[15:39] You can use road. Yeah. And just know that you are allowed to be there and that you taking up, you're taking up more space is safer for you often.
And so you have to be a little bit I don't want to use the word selfish, but maybe it's a bit selfish.

Jae:
[15:56] I mean they're being selfish too.

Jack:
[15:58] Exactly, they're being selfish. And also if they this same car is going to have to like double parking, especially in certain districts in the city, it's like the norm.
And so these cars who are trying to race past, you are just going to have to veer into the other lane anyway in 100 m because there's some other car that is blocking their lane just parked double parked.
And so I think if they're going to do that for the car, they can do it for us. And in general, I've been pretty lucky.

Jack'S Collarbone

[16:27] I haven't had any sort of altercations seen, well, it wasn't because of this.

Manuel:
[16:29] You had one terrible accident and that was because you had the chain around.

Jae:
[16:37] Story Time.

Jack:
[16:37] No, no, there's it's been I've had two accents, One event swerved into a bus lane and hit me, but it was all right.
And it was also timed perfectly for someone in the parking lane opening their door so I couldn't swerve away from the van.
Uh but that my bike just got destroyed. And then they luckily fixed that all up, that was fine.
And then another time I was cycling and I was on the bike path, which normally I would not do on this stretch because bike paths, certain bike paths in the city, they were built around a certain time aren't made for bikes, they're just trash and just like,
not there.
I feel like they just had to like take a box somewhere and say, look there's a bike path here, see where bike friendly, but in reality.

Manuel:
[17:25] Ironically, often they're worse than the than the sidewalk for pedestrians that's right next to it, where that's like super smooth and flat.
And then the bike path literally feels like, I don't know like you're you're writing on bricks that are just like scattered there. It's terrible.

Jack:
[17:42] Basically it's really wild. And so I was riding on one of these bike paths and my the chain going around my pedals came off.

Manuel:
[17:47] And my.

Jack:
[17:53] So I lost all sort of traction. And I went over the handlebars.
Now, this is where the debatable part happens because I wear my chain.

Manuel:
[18:00] She could where you still do.

Jack:
[18:05] I still do. This is why it's I would like to not emphasize this part because having my chain anywhere else annoys the hell out of me.
If I hear my chain rattle, I can't cycle, it's like, oh my God, please stop, please stop.
And the only place that it doesn't do that is when it is over my shoulder, I fell, I broke my collarbone.
This can happen with or without a chain over your shoulder that I was in as I was in the hospital, as I was in the hospital, they wheeled me into a room.
They were like, okay, we're going to take another room as they were wheeling me out. And now the guy gets wheeled in also with a broken collarbone from riding a bike.

Manuel:
[18:47] And he didn't have a chain case in point, it's proven, and then really other side all.

Jack:
[18:48] He probably didn't have a change. He probably anecdotal evidence is evidence.
And then I get moved into a room with another cyclist who also fell off his bike also broke his collarbone.
So it's like, come on! And this is the most convenient place for me to have my luck.

Manuel:
[18:59] So it come on and this is.

[19:05] Maybe it's time to get another lock.

Jack:
[19:07] Also, other locks are more annoying because certain places in the city, which actually has gotten much better the last government, it was amazing at removing parking spots spots for cars and putting in bike,
uh, by extends, but a lot of places don't have, you don't have this access to like quite a thin pole that will securely hold you back.
And so I need the chain to be able to go around a tree or be more flexible.

Manuel:
[19:34] Flexible. Yes.

Jack:
[19:35] Yeah. So I need the chain for that. I can't put the chain on my bike because it makes a noise.

Manuel:
[19:39] But I have a chain that has something around it. Uh you know, like.

Jack:
[19:43] Mm hmm. Which gets covered in grime and then we'll make you dirty. No. Which wrap around far.

Manuel:
[19:48] No. Which I then wrap around the bar and it doesn't rattle.

Jack:
[19:52] I feel like I did this and it didn't work. It rattled. It rattled. Okay. Don't.

Manuel:
[19:54] It doesn't it doesn't rattle. Okay, don't do what Jack is doing because it will increase your chances of a broken collarbone. And yeah. Okay. Same.

Jack:
[19:59] Don't.
Mm hmm. Yeah. I'm not saying that's not true. Yeah. I'm not saying that's not true. That's mm hmm.

Manuel:
[20:10] I don't I feel like we haven't answered any of your questions, jay. Mhm.

Jack:
[20:12] Yes. Yeah. What was the first one?

Jae:
[20:15] No it's good, we're gonna keep on going, keep on going. Okay. So I'm I'm kind of you're convincing me a little bit more.
Um Now my question is gonna be more about what type of bike should I get? How much typically do bikes cost? Um What about bike repairs and like how is like bike mates in that?

How To Buy A Bike In Berlin

Manuel:
[20:26] Mm hmm.

[20:36] Yeah. And I would just preface this by saying this is part of the reason why Jack is here because he literally together with hands. Hello hans if you're listening.

Jack:
[20:43] I would say it would be like 80 20 Hunts Hunts 80 to 80%.

Manuel:
[20:47] Yes. And then, and then me just sitting there taking photos. Uh they these guys built my bike for me, so he knows what he's talking about.

Jack:
[20:49] B 20% Yeah, they these guys built no,
Hunts knew what he was talking about and I was around to soak up a small portion of the knowledge uh that is extremely um dependent on the type of bike you have,
I would say there's a few good styles of bikes you can have in this city, it mostly depends on how, what you feel comfortable riding.
And so I would say if you have never ridden a bike in a big city, you should get a big dutch style bike where you hold on, where you sit up straight,
and you have a lot of distance, you feel quite comfortable, you can't go, it's not a race bike, so you can still go quite fast, but not as speedy as some of the people on the races or like a single speed type bike, but I think that is a good starter.
There's also a lot of these style bikes are the kind of bikes that you can rent.

Manuel:
[21:48] Yeah, for like a month, like you pay a month, it's like a netflix thing almost, you pay €30 a month or something and then you just have a bike and it's like fully serviced if it breaks, they fix it, if it's stolen, it's insured.
And I mean if you really, if you really do the math adds up right?
But if you're the kind of person who wants to take the subway during the winter and only wants to ride the bike in the three months that it's nice outside, it's a good you.

Jack:
[22:17] I would say it's longer than three months, you, I would say there's three months within the year in which you don't want to ride You 100% want to ride, like I would say in shorts and t shirt with no socks.

Manuel:
[22:21] One of hundreds Jack I will just say rights in the middle of winter in shorts and T shirt with shoes and no socks because he refuses.

Jack:
[22:31] I wear socks and now I wear socks, but I would say january, february, not a vibe, not a vibe do not right.

Jae:
[22:39] Not a vibe.

Jack:
[22:41] I mean you can, you can and I did for a long time because I felt like I had something to prove. I think now I'm like, man, I don't care, I don't care, I will take the train in the morning and not feel bad about it.

Jae:
[22:46] Ha ha ha!

Jack:
[22:54] Um but this like these renting bikes are a great starting off point if you don't know anything about bikes, don't know how to repair,
if you because recently I thought that I wanted to support my local bike shop, I was like, you know what, I'm not going to do this quite simple repair that I could do myself,
because I am feeling quite lazy and I also want to support these small mom and pop bike shops.

Manuel:
[23:23] That's me always this.

Jack:
[23:23] Yeah, the problem is these small mama bike shops like it was, I think they took advantage of me and it costs so much money.

Manuel:
[23:30] Like it,
it costs so.

Jack:
[23:36] I basically bought a whole new back, they replaced the rehearsal like this, the gear on my single speed bike on the back, a new chain.

Manuel:
[23:37] What what did they do and how much did it cost?
My bye right.

Jack:
[23:46] I think they might have replaced one other thing, like it was not so much and it literally cost more than I just paid for a whole bike, it was like 100 and.

Manuel:
[23:53] Literally paid, how much did it cost? 100.

Jack:
[24:00] I want to say €170, but I have a terrible memory, but it was up there. Maybe I also got new tires.

Manuel:
[24:03] But it was yeah, okay, so speaking, so speaking of racing backs basically what Jack and I ride and what,
what is amazing what once you feel comfortable is a single speed racing bike because,
so the way to go about it or the way we went about it is you buy bike any bike that is used that has a really good frame and those frames are often very old because the good ones last.
So I think my frame, I think it's from the seventies or something, it is old seventies or eighties, it's probably about as old as I am, but it's a steel frame and it's what's it called?
Jack where it's not like soldered but it's like like the individual parts are like stuck, like you can tell that that they're stuck into each other instead of just like soldier.

Jack:
[24:50] Oh, I once knew this!

Manuel:
[24:58] It's it's hard to describe but it's a very high quality frame that's very old.
And so I bought this used bike four, I will say, I don't remember it but probably around €200, something like that, something like that.
And then basically we, we changed everything else.
Um so these guys helped me take off the gears and we made it into a single speed So single speed just means that there's a single gear so you can change gears, but the thing is Berlin is not hilly, there's a few little hills, but.

[25:33] You get really used to it quickly and the benefits really outweigh the disadvantages because the thing is light, it doesn't break, there's nothing moving,
it is very minimalistic and clean and just works like I have, I never have problems with my chain or anything, it just works.

[25:54] And yeah, we basically changed everything.
The saddle, um we didn't change the handlebars, those broke.

Manuel'S Handlebar

[26:01] That was a scary moment. I was at a, at a red light and it was turning green and I kind of put my weight onto the handlebar and one just like fell off essentially and then I went to the bike shop and like,
ask them like, hey, I need a new handlebar And they were like, Oh man, yeah, this is like the original handlebar, that's probably like 40 years ago.
You should change it every seven years or so because it's aluminum or aluminum and those um yes, the, the frame is steel, but the, the handlebars, aluminum, so you need to change it.
Um but that's kind of the way to go. Like I really love, love, love my bike,
and it is super reliable and also because it's so old and the frame like is good quality but it just looks old, it doesn't look that expensive.
You know, I feel, I feel okay like you still need to be super careful in terms of theft, but,
I feel pretty confident that like it's not like, you know, some people buy these like matte black racing bikes that just scream, steal me.

Jack:
[27:09] Yeah, not the way of blaming them, it's obviously not their fault that their bike got stolen but choices were made.

Manuel:
[27:12] Yeah.

You Should Get A Single Speed

[27:18] So basically this would be my recommendation if you don't want to do like a either a dutch by a dutch style bike or a mountain bike or something like that, I would just buy a used bike.
One thing you need to be a little bit careful, so it might be good to have bring someone with you who knows a little bit about bikes because some of these bikes are so old,
That and sometimes they're like specific like specifically French from the 70s or something and the bike shops will tell you there's no parts for this anymore.
Like we literally can't change the pedals for example on this bike because those aren't being made anymore or we can change the handlebar so you need to be a little bit careful,
but in general like just get a good frame and then invest another few €100 but over time to like slowly change everything out,
and kind of build your own single speed right, not fix e.

Jack:
[28:16] Yeah, not fixing, I would say single speed is the way to go, especially in Berlin you don't need, you don't need gears to get around, it's much more simple maintenance.

Manuel:
[28:19] Done.
Yeah.
You also really helped me kind of finding the perfect gear because you then need to decide like how hard do I want to pedal and.

Jack:
[28:28] Finding here, decide like how hard.

Manuel:
[28:34] I I don't really remember, I guess you guys just had me ride your bikes and you were like, is this too much or too little and I would air.

Jack:
[28:36] Just right,
yeah, good air I'm doing it one where.

Manuel:
[28:43] On doing it like picking one where it feels a little bit too hard because like you get used to it and you build up.

Jack:
[28:48] You get, yeah, you get fitter. Yeah, exactly.

Bike Prices

Jae:
[28:51] Okay, so this is a question, I feel like a lot of people are gonna want to know um pricing what is a good price for a bike?
What is like Jack cod with those um local shops too expensive and what is like to cheap, but you're like you don't even want to pay that little because it's not going to be worth it.

Jack:
[29:10] I think the too cheap options, it's not because it's not going to be worth, it it's 100% because it was stolen probably around the corner by someone who's just looking for a good time.

Jae:
[29:16] Ha ha ha.

Jack:
[29:21] You know, like they, it's not, I feel like bike theft in Berlin has definitely dropped.
It feels and I feel like you don't just get offered bikes in the street anymore.
You used to be, if you were around certain bridges in Berlin,
people at a certain type of person might come up and be like, hey, you want to buy this bike for 20 bucks and you're like, hmm maybe, but,
it's highly possible that it was stolen so too cheap Eagles stolen if you feel bad about that, that's the choice. You know, that's up to you.
I would the best place I and most reliable place I would say,
is there's the markets, I think also at the, it's been so years and years since I was at mile park, they don't do bikes anymore.

Manuel:
[30:08] No, they don't they don't have bikes there anymore, I don't think so.

Jack:
[30:10] I would say Ebay clan inside, which is like Ebay, but I don't know if you have it in America, but it's kind of like a local Ebay so basically craig's list.

Manuel:
[30:19] It's craigslist essentially.

Jack:
[30:22] Um, and most of my more recent bike purchases or friends who have bought bikes have purchased them on Ebay client and you can find very nice, very good.
Even single speed banks already on there for less than €200,
that might require like a fine tune, but in general are pretty good and if you are flexible and can also travel like take the train a little bit outside of Berlin to go and pick it up, you pay much less,
so you can definitely do something for less than For around 200.

Manuel:
[30:53] Yeah, and bring someone, like I said, I already said this, but bring someone who knows a little bit about bikes and just pay attention to the frame.
Like if the, if the wheels have an aide or something is off, like it doesn't matter just, you know, switch those things out.
You will anyway, just pay attention to the frame and get a good frame and I think you can get a good deal.

Jae:
[31:15] Yeah, so like a lot of things, it's funny my well, but you always like bring someone with you, so I think I'm just going to hire you and Jack just to come with me everywhere I go for those first few months.

Knowing People

Jack:
[31:27] This is also what I was thinking on your last episode where you're talking about getting a place and like never give money or documents to someone whose apartment you haven't seen just send someone there.
Like people, some people don't know people like.

Jae:
[31:43] Okay, well if you, if anyone, um listening wants to give Manuel and Jack a freelancing job just hit the button to go look at your apartment and check out bikes.

Jack:
[31:51] Yeah.

[31:55] I mean to yeah, I mean, Oh yeah, It can't be so hard.
But like I do kind of forget that people are moving to the city starting from literal zero and where they have no connections literally zero and I don't know how they do it. I honestly don't.

Jae:
[32:05] Literally zero.

[32:12] I don't either. That's why we're doing this podcast.

Jack:
[32:14] Yeah, it's really, really wild to think that someone can just go from one country often from another country to another to a random city.
They might not speak the language and then just start existing there because so many of the things that you need to set up in life, a place to live, a way to get around,
are so heavily dependent on knowing people.
I mean you can also be okay. You also have to be a little bit okay with when you do move to a place, paying a little bit more for things than you might pay normally because you don't know.
But then once you do know, start paying less quickly scared.

Jae:
[32:57] 100%. I mean, this is my third time moving to a random city with people, like a place where I've never known anybody.

Moving To A New City

[33:04] And I mean you kind of just, you kind of just do it like I think that's the thrill of it. You kind of know how people like go bungee jumping or to go Skydiving. You don't really know if you're gonna land or not, but just go and try it.

Jack:
[33:04] Oh wow.
Yeah.

[33:15] Well, I mean, I think this is when I, when I moved to London and when I moved from Berlin to London from London to build from No, I moved to Berlin from London.

Manuel:
[33:22] London to Berlin I think.

Jack:
[33:27] I thought that I could just keep doing this my whole life. I was like, I can keep going.
I, I've got no strings. I can go anywhere I want and now that I don't want to live anywhere but London but Berlin I am a little bit scared.
I'm like, oh my God, what if Berlin gets shit, like I don't want to move, I want to be here.
It's a bit daunting, wanting to be somewhere.

Jae:
[33:52] Then you'll just be shipped in Berlin You will embrace it. Yeah.

Jack:
[33:54] Yeah, that's true. Maybe we'll both grow terrible together.

Jae:
[34:00] Okay, my next question, I have three more questions, but my next question is going to be more about like scenic views or whatnot.

Tours Around Berlin And Through Europe

[34:08] So where are the best places to just bike and just enjoy your time? Like great places just go. You just want to just like get out, just want to clear your mind and just enjoy the scenery.

Jack:
[34:18] I mean there are amazing, amazing, amazing bike infrastructure around Berlin like once you get out of the city, the roads actually are very good.
There's a lot of dedicated bike paths, there's beautiful forests involved that you can ride around on lakes, you can go around and literally every direction from the city.

Manuel:
[34:40] And actually, to be honest, this is true for all of Germany. And I've, you know, americans are always so impressed because you can literally cycle,
all all through Germany, like from kiel at the very north to all the way at the south,
and it's just beautiful and you're right, like there there are bike paths everywhere, even kind of the big,
bigger highways, like not the autobahn, but like the big boned extras, like four cars, there's usually a bike path at the side, otherwise you can just cycle through,
um through fields and stuff.
And I've done some of these tours, I mean, not nearly as long as you Jack have done.
Um but you can literally just get an app, what's the app that you guys can mood and you just put whatever Berlin to Hamburg and, and you and you go on.

Jack:
[35:25] Commute is the best one. Yeah, just Berlin.

[35:33] And trust the app, Trust the app every time we were like, hey maybe we're smarter than this app, We were in fact not and we should have just done what the app said.

Manuel:
[35:34] Trust the app every time we were like, matter.

[35:42] That's true. It's true because that app knows about kind of the street conditions and stuff and if it's cyclo ble or not, I don't know if that's.

Jack:
[35:44] It's it knows conditions, recyclable or mhm it's like, no, definitely.

Jae:
[35:52] What's the best place that you have a bike too?

Jack:
[35:55] I would say the thing is so black infrastructure structurally within Germany, great, really good.
Once you get out of certain areas in Berlin there's not great food in Germany or it's harder to find, I'm sure it exists. I just haven't had it.
But when I cycled once with a friend through, we cycled all the way to Marseille through Germany and then, and once we hit France,
the food there on top of the amazing infrastructure and just riding around the outside and doing all that,
that was probably the best, that was pretty unforgettable.
It was just cycling around europe in general is breathtaking, especially in the ALps where,
the roads and the people are used to there being cyclists everywhere, so you don't feel unsafe.
There's the infrastructure there, there's a small little places you can eat constantly around, it's not like Australia or America where the distance between humans is hundreds of kilometers,
everything is much more reasonably yeah, spaced.

Manuel:
[37:11] Space Yeah, your tours are insane.

Jack:
[37:13] You're, you're tourists are ST Davies tourists where you saw.

Manuel:
[37:15] Like you've been doing these tours where you cycle for One or two or three weeks and you go literally like 200 km every night, right? You used to cycle during the night and then sleep during the day.

Jack:
[37:21] Mhm.

[37:25] Yeah, but that was a mistake, We did something, we thought we were young and we were also like two guys were like, yeah, we can cycle that far in the day, like why does that?
Sure, if you can do it, I can do it And then we realized that we don't have to kill ourselves every day. We can also have a great time and just ride far but not destroy ourselves.
And that's when there's like a fine balance between the distance that you can go in a day while still being able to enjoy Your lunches and your brakes and nothing like we really have to go, otherwise we're not going to get there until 10:00.
But yeah, there were some fun, some fun tours which had, we have the last one was a few years ago actually.

Jae:
[38:12] Okay, so that actually leads to like a good point like these tours or what not biking with other people, What are some good biking groups in Berlin.

Critical Mass And Other Groups

Jack:
[38:21] Hmm, I'm not sure about the Organ. I'm not sure if there's, I mean there are probably facebook groups for organized biking tours. I am unsure.

Manuel:
[38:31] You know what just occurs to me, there's this um organism, not even organization, this concept called Critical Mass and that's really cool.
So basically this all originated from kind of an obscure law or paragraph in the road regulations in Germany where it says basically,
when there's a red light and a vehicle has started passing the green, started passing the intersection when the light was green and then the light turned red and the vehicle because it's long, it's still passing, that's fine.
And the other thing is that if you are, I think five or more bikes in a group, you're cycling together as a group and you're five or more bikes, you count as one vehicle essentially.
And someone thought what if we took this a little further and they organized these events called Critical Mass where they would just kind of on very short notice or almost I think without any organization in advance.

[39:34] Said, okay, now we'll all cycle together now.
Like everybody come here, it's time for Critical Mass and you would have these impromptu bike rides with hundreds, if not thousands of people I was and a few of them sometimes by accident because I was just like cycling home from work.
And I all of a sudden there's like hundreds of people passing me and all the cars are like stopped in their tracks and I would just cycle with them.
And it's just an insane feeling. It's just like you're taking over the city.

Jack:
[40:05] Yeah, you're riding through parts of the city that normally you wouldn't be riding on.
I think they even ride on the autobahns and go through the tunnels and do things that they're not we're not really normally allowed to do.

Manuel:
[40:14] Oh yeah, it's probably a little bit sketchy. Yeah.

Jack:
[40:17] I feel in I did it in London a few times and there it was much less official.

Manuel:
[40:20] Much less police nowadays. They, I guess it's not so impromptu anymore. Nowadays they the police is there to kind of make sure it's safe.

Jack:
[40:22] It didn't have police everywhere. I think in Berlin it's a little bit more organized.

Manuel:
[40:31] But it used to be like this here to where they would just start and just yeah, cause trouble.

Jack:
[40:31] Used to. Mm hmm policy.
Yeah, I think, yeah, there must be groups that you can facebook has a lot of groups.
It pains me to say that quite handy for meeting people.

Jae:
[40:48] Honestly, I found a lot of good things off of facebook. I mean aside from all of facebook's drama, but like in terms of when it comes to like finding different groups are finding different events, like facebook groups have been in life saver for me.

Jack:
[40:51] Mm

[41:02] Yeah. Finding events on, if you can find events when you go to these events, there will also be full of other people who are looking to meet people as well. So that that's probably a good idea.
There's also these communal bike workshops so if you don't have, I've struggled a lot like something that may enhance.
Used to do a lot with struggle really hard to do a thing with the incorrect tool for hours, hours and hours we would struggle and then we would take it to a black shop where they had the tool and the guy would do it in literally five seconds,
and so having the correct tool for the job is so key.
And these places, these free workshops where you go and they'll help you repair your bike or you know lend you the tool ah are a lifesaver.

Manuel:
[41:48] That's a good point and I want to say I learned this from you is if you're not like a crazy bike enthusiast but you want to be able to do minor things yourself, get one of those multi tools um that has like the,
10 most important things that you'll need for most of the things in like one handy tool that you can also take with you when you're doing a trip,
that's super Henry and I mean you started off earlier by talking about the bad experience in a bike shop.
Um I will say I've had some really good experiences with bike shops also in Berlin, there are some really amazing shops where you can feel that the people just do it for the love right?
Like I've even gone to places where it feels like they fix something and they're like no no it's fine, like you don't need to pay kind of because it was such a small job, like,
it's maybe it's not the norm and I don't necessarily have like a list of recommended recommendations or recommended shops, but I would say wherever you end up living, try to find your bike shop and don't settle for the big one or the first one you see,
Because that one might be shipped and it might be the tiny one that doesn't even have a sign outside. That's kind of the good one.

Jack:
[42:56] Yeah, I would say that Yeah. Shop around until you find somewhere you're comfortable with and,
they can be grumpy old man, but they can also be great, non grumpy old men who will help you and want to help and will lend your tools if you need or We'll teach you a thing or two.

Apps And E-Bikes

Jae:
[43:15] Yeah. Okay. So I have one more question and this is probably my biggest question. So I'm a techie. I love technology. I love like anything like that. What do you guys think about E bikes And like, like those types of things are like electronic scooters or whatnot?

Jack:
[43:30] I am not a scooter fan.

Manuel:
[43:33] No, the scooters are a problem. I mean I've used them.
I even just used one last week because I went to the supermarket here and I went outside and my backpack was so heavy and there was a scooter right in front of the shop.
I was like, what if I just stand on this scooter and ride home? And so I get it.
But first of all, every time I see people riding, I'm like, it looks so dangerous.
Like you shouldn't be riding at that speed with wheels that are that tiny, that close to the real traffic. I don't know, they look incredibly dangerous.
And the biggest problem is that they're just lying around places.
Like they're constantly on the bike lane everywhere.
So there are a problem. And I would actually be in favor of kind of like outlawing kind of the rental services.

Jack:
[44:23] I mean, the rental, I would say the rental bikes, they're a little bit better. They're good. Mhm.

Manuel:
[44:26] Right? That's the thing. No, those are good. Um, I have all of the different apps.

Jack:
[44:32] So the expensive.

Manuel:
[44:32] So the expensive ones are the e bikes, like the, it used to be Uber now it's lime, they're pricey but they're, yeah, they're fast like because they're e bikes. So.

Jack:
[44:34] Mm hmm. Yeah. That I love them.
It's slightly problematic. But they Yeah.
And they feel it feels like you're driving a tank. So if you aren't, if you don't feel confident on the bike, get on one of these at first, it's almost it feels a little bit temperamental. Like a horse.

Manuel:
[44:47] Yeah.

[44:54] Mental like, Whoa.

Jack:
[44:55] You know, it's like, it's like, whoa, It's like you realize that there's a little bit of power there. But once you get going, it is really unstoppable.

Manuel:
[44:59] True.

[45:03] That's true. And I would just say like get all the apps because I also have Donkey Republic, I have Next bike, I have collar bike.

Jack:
[45:03] That's and then I would just say all the apps, the I think there's a good one this yell B which like morphs them all into one yell B J E L B I.

Manuel:
[45:14] Oh, what's that called? Yeah, I'll be okay.

Jack:
[45:18] And this is a an app which the bikes but also public transport.

Manuel:
[45:21] And that shows you all the bikes.

Jack:
[45:25] And I think you can even buy a ticket for the trains and things through this app.

Manuel:
[45:28] Ah and it's run by before. Okay, so it's run by the Berlin.

Jack:
[45:30] It's grandpa. Yeah. And so that will kind of you in one spot and you can see all the different brands that are close to you. And it really allows you to, you know.

Manuel:
[45:34] The other, right? You. Yeah, and it is true.
Like the good thing in Berlin is wherever you are and whenever, like there's never a moment where you're not able to move around because like, I honestly, I have all the apps, I have all the car sharing services.
I have the electric scooters, which are also fun, I must say.
And the good thing about them is that you don't have to find parking because you can just park them on the sidewalk and then the bicycles.

Jack:
[46:04] Silent. They sneak up on you out of nowhere and then the bicycle almost never use.

Manuel:
[46:06] Yeah, yeah, they're very they're electric, so they're very quiet. And then the bicycle apps I almost never use because,
you know, I have my bicycle, but they're good and especially like if you have a visitor, someone's visiting you and you can just use the app because they're cheap as well and they constantly give you like three minutes and stuff.

Jack:
[46:13] But they're good. Especially there is, yeah.

Manuel:
[46:24] And so if you're just visiting Berlin for a few days or you don't want to deal with finding a bike in the beginning, just use those apps like it's fine.

Jack:
[46:25] Just yes,
meaning, yeah. Milk These venture capitalists for all of them, they're free minutes and then they'll eventually fold into some other company and then someone else will come along.

Manuel:
[46:33] Yes,
eventually fall into something,
and then just park the bike somewhere sensibly and don't just like throw it on the sidewalk because that seems to be a thing people.

Jack:
[46:45] Mm hmm.

Jae:
[46:48] Yes. Let's all have nice bike etiquette. I think that's the least we can ask for.

Jack:
[46:51] Yes, bike etiquette is definitely a thing. We live in a society.

Jae:
[46:56] Yes. Well, honestly, after this conversation, honestly, I mean, I was always thinking about getting a bike, but definitely you guys have convinced me to,

Just Get A Bike

[47:06] mainly look into that also because I mean, I'm not that big of a fan of of of driving and I like to walk.
But I think biking I think is like my medium. So when I get there I will be getting y'all's like actual one on one help. So maybe that could be like a part two of like jR actually getting a bike. That'll be fine.

Jack:
[47:27] Actually getting it back.

Jae:
[47:28] Yeah. But um, it was great to meet you. Jack E Meet you virtually meet you. Like, talk to you. Eat me.

Jack:
[47:34] Eat Me too. Eat Me too. I feel like there should be a better term.
No, I feel like there should be a better term than meeting. Nice.

Manuel:
[47:41] I got an email from someone who said nice to meet you and I was like maybe we should stop this relationship in its tracks.

Jae:
[47:44] E B.

Jack:
[47:45] We will not be friends. We will not be continuing. Hmm.

Jae:
[47:49] E Harmony. Like Yeah. Yeah.

Manuel:
[47:54] Yeah.

Jack:
[47:55] Because I think no, I think another word for it makes sense. Because when people say like, oh, it's nice to meet you like we have chatted for two seconds.

Jae:
[48:00] You don't know me.

Jack:
[48:04] Or 100% electronically. We haven't met. But actually maybe I shouldn't be so cynical.

Jae:
[48:07] Mm hmm,
virtually meet. It's great to be in the atmosphere with you.

Jack:
[48:14] Of the meat and atmosphere. Oh my God.

Jae:
[48:15] Let's say that.

Jack:
[48:20] No, it was great. Thank you so much for all of the questions that I think when we listened back I will have answered. None of them.

Jae:
[48:27] I know you answered all of them. Like I have a good picture.

Jack:
[48:32] Mm hmm. All I want to say is just get a bike and ride in Bowen. It makes the most sense. Just not january, february.

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