"The Bottom Bracket Blues": Kindness of Strangers-Lost and Confused in San Martino
Back in Fussen Germany, the mechanic who installed our new 42 tooth chainring recommended that we replace the rear bottom bracket as the ball bearings were worn. Usually we replace the bottom brackets when we return home from a 3 month trip in Canada, but now that we are storing our bike in Germany, we forgot to do this. Oh dear, is this the beginnings of "senior moments"? We clearly need checklists. We thought that we could make it back to Germany and a mechanic we know to replace the bottom bracket, but the past 3 or 4 days, the bike has been telling us that it is time. We both could feel that it was getting worse. So, we emailed Max of Fairfield Bicycles at our local bike shop in Victoria BC, and asked him for the details of the part that we needed. Fortunately, the rear bottom bracket is a normal BB that will be easy to get. However, the front BB is tandem specific and will need to be ordered. We'll wait and replace the front one when we return to Germany. We wandered all over Verona looking for a bike shop that might have the part available. We Google Translated Max's email into Italian so that people would have an idea of what we were looking for. After about four bike shops we were directed to a great bike shop that specialized in Wilier road bikes. Fillippo was extremely helpful, but did not have the part in stock. He kindly phoned several bike shops and finally found the part in a bike shop in San Martino (12 km out of town). They were too busy to install the bottom bracket, but if we got the part Fillippo's mechanic would install the bottom bracket. As shops close for three hours for lunch, we had return to his shop at 3:00 pm before heading out to San Martino. When we returned, the English speaking people who were at the bike shop, were horrified that we would attempt to ride there. They insisted that we take the bus - sounds simple, but that is where our problems began. Changing buses was super complicated, we got dropped in San Martino where no one spoke English and sadly no one had heard of the shop, our phone stopped working so we couldn't phone them and so our only resort was to take photos of the translation showing the shop's address and what we needed so that we could ask locals for help. No one had heard of the shop or the address. We walked several km and finally found a hairdresser who directed us in the right direction. It was an epic day of confusion but highlighted by incredible moments of kindness, friendly Italians who would not give up even when they couldn't communicate or help, and moments where we pinched ourselves that we were truly off the beaten path with so many memorable moments.
Michael and Eva of Karlsruhe - what a wild coincidence seeing them again. Earlier in the trip, we had met them on the trail near Augsburg, and as we were entering Verona, they were pulled over trying to find the best way in to town. As they didn't have a place to stay, they followed us and stayed at Albergo Trento Hotel as well.
Fillippo at Dieffe Bici di Bissoli Diego (Punt-Rosso) in Verona was very helpful and accommodating. We had already visited other bike shops this morning, and all were not willing to help. He tried to order the part but it would take several days to come, so he called around locally and found a part for the most worn bottom bracket of the two on our bike. He said if we got the part they would find time to instal it for us.
Walking the small and quieter side streets of Verona, we discovered this charming Latteria that made up fresh sandwiches for us and we also enjoyed a homemade tart.
Daria came to our rescue at the bus stop. We had to transfer to a different bus and it was confusing as there were 3 different stops on different streets to choose from. She was the only person who spoke English. First she sent us to one stop and then 10 min later she ran over to us apologizing that this was the wrong one - so she escorted us to the other one and made sure we were on the right bus. Thank you Daria!
Another helpful Italian who was on the bus and decided that he would help us. He spoke no English and his strategy was to repeat (at great speed) lengthy and complicated instructions in Italian. He grew increasingly upset for us, and we just pretended that we understood to make him feel better. At the end of it all, we understood only what direction we should go, but the details were lost. He was lovely and so representative of the generosity of spirit we received this day.
Sorry, we can't recall your name: but this man was parked by the road, and we had walked a few km at this point. We were running out of time as we knew the shop closed at 7 pm. This man was concerned for our safety walking and he drove us to the shop.
