Broken

Old Chaoyang Temple

The Didi driver dropped me at the temple at the top of the hill and after a brief look around I headed down intending to circle around the mountain, head for the water and cross Xinghai Bay Bridge on the way back to the hotel apartment.  The bike, though, wasn't having it.  On the way up a hill, I switched gear and -- KA-CHANG! -- forward progress stopped.  Looking down I saw the rear derailleur hanging by the chain and no longer attached to the frame.  And there I was on a two-lane mountain road with nothing in sight.

I called for a Didi but in that location during morning rush hour none was forthcoming.  Baidu Maps satellite view showed the nearest settlement was likely closer back the way I had come, which was also mostly downhill and therefore a better choice as I would now have to push the bicycle. After appropriately 30min I pulled up for a rest in the shade of a tree in front of an apartment complex.  The sky was clear, the sun was  up, and I was getting a good sweat on.  I was having some water when an empty taxi came out of the apartment complex!

During the ride I was calculating, trying to think my way through what I might do. The discouraged self wanted to throw the bike in the box, send it home, and be done with biking on this vacation. But what I didn’t know and didn’t see well on the road was that the problem might manageable. An internet search revealed that broken derailleur hangers are not unusual and easily repairable.

I remembered Dirk, a Belgian cyclist I found while searching Strava for Dalian residents who might provide useful cycling information in advance of my trip.  We had already connected via Wechat so I sent a message to ask if he knew of any local mechanics who might help. To my great surprise, his reply was, Where are you?  I will come and pick you up.

I was floored.  All I wanted was a reference, maybe a name and phone number. I sent him my location and he said he’d be there within the hour.

Meanwhile, I had located a local dealer through the Dahon website and asked the apartment receptionist to help me make contact, which she kindly did, and which lead me to sending photos and getting an “OK, bring the bike” from the shop.

Dirk pulled up in his Porsche SUV, we said hello, shook hands, put the bike in the car, and took off in search of the shop, which Dirk said he was sure he knew.  Having lived here 11 years, it seems he is familiar with many of the bicycle shops, which like all kinds of shops in China, tend to cluster based on product or service.  The first place we visited had a few bicycle shops lined up next to one another, but it turned out we were in the wrong neighborhood.  But, no problem.  Dirk knew the other neighborhood and within 15 minutes a father and son team were hemming and hawing while inspecting my battered Dahon.

“We’ll do the best we can to fix this,” the son said in perfect English, suggesting that in fact fixing it might not be possible.  And it wasn’t.  A stop on the derailleur body had snapped, part of the molded plastic. The derailleur had to be replaced.  And the shop didn’t have any spares.  But … the shop did have brand new bicycles with derailleurs attached and to my surprise the son offered to remove one from a new bike and affix it to mine.  At a small mark-up, of course.

But it wasn’t just the derailleur. It seems a couple of links in the chain were also bent. Altogether, the derailleur, the derailleur hanger, and the chain were replaced.  Total cost with labor was 460rmb/67USD.

The son suggested that big guys like Dirk and I shouldn’t be riding such small bikes like a Dahon, but something more like one of the hefty mountain bikes he was selling.  I tried explaining that I was travelling, but I don’t know if he understood, though his Wechat post later that evening promoting his Dahon bikes claimed they are great bikes for travelling.  He also warned me I shouldn’t cycle “too hard,”  presumably so as not to suffer a similar misfortune in the future.

As for Dirk, he will always be my Dalian hero.  What an amazing person.  He and his Chinese wife have their own company and he says he’s now semiretired with lots of time to spend -- but in no way obliged to strangers encountered on social media.  His kindness was perhaps the most amazing and rewarding aspect of this entire misadventure. I took him out to lunch afterwards at a nearby Japanese restaurant, one of his old hangouts when he used to live in this part of town. He’s off today for a wedding in Australia, so my timing couldn’t have been better for getting superhero help.

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