Racing the City on a Rented Bike

Kad su tramvaji stali zbog štrajka, nisam puno razmišljao: iznajmio sam gradski bicikl i krenuo na sastanak preko pola Zagreba.

When the trams stopped due to a strike, I didn’t think much: I rented a city bike and set off to the meeting across half of Zagreb.

Aplikacija je tvrdila da je sve slobodno, ali prva stanica zjapila je prazna, kao da je netko usisao sve bicikle iz kvarta.

The app claimed everything was available, but the first station gaped empty, as if someone had vacuumed all the bikes out of the neighborhood.

Dok sam, mrmljajući, hodao do sljedeće stanice, zazvonila mi je kolegica s Dolca i, kunući se u ribarnicu, rekla da je po gradu gužva "za poludit".

While I was, muttering, walking to the next station, a colleague from Dolac called and, swearing by the fish market, said the city was “crazy busy.”

I stvarno, našao sam jedan jedini bicikl, raštimanih brzina, ali rekao sam si: ne bi bilo loše makar pedalirati polako, samo da stignem.

And sure enough, I found the one and only bike, with misaligned gears, but I told myself: it wouldn’t be bad to pedal slowly, as long as I make it.

Vozeći se uz Savu, kroz sparinu koja se lijepila za kožu, primijetio sam kako mi lanac prijeti iskočiti pa sam ga, kleknuvši, na brzinu namjestio, dok je jedna baka mudro komentirala da "tko žuri, taj se dvaput vozi".

Riding along the Sava, through heat that clung to the skin, I noticed the chain threatening to jump, so I knelt and quickly set it back, while an old lady wisely remarked that “if you hurry, you ride twice.”

Da ne duljim, taman kad sam uhvatio ritam, aplikacija mi je poslala poruku da najam istječe za deset minuta jer je "posebna tarifa" u špici.

Long story short, just as I found my rhythm, the app sent me a message that the rental would expire in ten minutes because of a “peak-hour special tariff.”

Proključao bih da me nije spasio čovjek iz kioska, koji mi je, k'o da je znao, pokazao prečac kroz dvorišta i ponudio da mi pričuva bicikl ako sustav poludi.

I would’ve boiled over if the man from the kiosk hadn’t saved me; as if he knew, he showed me a shortcut through courtyards and offered to watch my bike if the system went crazy.

Zahvalio sam mu, stisnuo zube i projurio dvorištima oko Kvatrića—u glavi sam već slagao ispriku, a u nogama imao onaj prkos koji dođe kad te okolnosti guraju u rikverc.

I thanked him, gritted my teeth, and shot through the courtyards around Kvatrić—already composing an excuse in my head, with that defiance in my legs that comes when circumstances push you into reverse.

Pred zgradom na Zrinjevcu, baš kad pomisliš da si gotov, stanica za vraćanje bila je krcata—niti jedne slobodne brave; taman posla da ga ostavim na divlje.

In front of the building on Zrinjevac, just when you think you’re done, the return station was packed—not a single free lock; no way I’d leave it just anywhere.

Pao mi je kamen sa srca kad je jedna cura otključala svoj bicikl i, uz smiješak koji sve govori, rekla da se i ona svaki put bori s tim njihovim pravilima kao da polaže ispit iz birokracije.

A weight fell off my chest when a girl unlocked her bike and, with a knowing smile, said she too fights their rules every time as if sitting an exam in bureaucracy.

Stigao sam na sastanak zadihan, ali na vrijeme: iznajmljeni bicikl, koliko god hirovit, pokazao se bržim od živaca, a još bržim od grada koji bi se, kad bi mogao, najradije parkirao sam u sebe.

I reached the meeting out of breath but on time: the rented bike, however temperamental, proved faster than my nerves, and even faster than a city that, if it could, would most gladly park itself inside itself.