Cranks, ‘derailleuroor’, ‘balhoofdstel’, spokes and bearings. These terms were all part of our bike repair course that we followed in Kiel-Windeweer in the neighbourhood of Groningen. For Susanne it is possible to fix a tire. Luckily Martin is a little bit more handy. But for both of us it was good to gain more knowledge about our bikes and to become more handy in fixing it if something does not work anymore.

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We were greeted on friday evening and set up our tent in the orchard with plum, apple and pear trees. We were not the only one and soon there were eight tents in the orchard. The next day we found out we were with a group of 16 bike lovers who wanted to know more about their iron horse. Some of them were planning big trips like us, others were interested in the ins and outs of their bikes for more general education. It was a good mix of different people.

Next to theory we had the chance to work on some different bikes. We could take a tire out of the frame, adjust the gearing set-up, adjust the brakes and get a good feel of how it works on the bikes. Also we got a demonstration how to change a broken spoke and a lot of information about bearings. All in all our general bicycle knowledge is up to scratch and we are confident that we can fix most general problems should they arise. Also we had a nice social weekend with a lot of bike-minded people.

The course was organized through the dutch organization Wereld Fietser an organization which has a focus on bicycle touring.