Took all day but she is ready to go again!

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Fixed! So an all day affair but all is fixed by way of a new wheel and tyre. Other than that I planned some more today, ate, struggled with the French language, ate, looked around Samoens a bit, slept a bit then eat again. There were also thunder storms today so a good day to not be stuck on a bike.

So rocked on up to the bike shop this morning at the advertised 0830 opening time to see a dark shop with very locked doors. Oh. So on the the next, same. Third time lucky though (I could see the fourth one down the road was also shut so really my only option). They were helpful, but said at they had no spokes likes those used on my Shimano wheel. They could order some but probably 3 days to get here. Oh again.

However, the rim caught their eye as it was running quiet well and truly untrue, wobbling around all over the place. They said that they thought it was too bent to straighten with the spokes alone as the spokes are quite wide apart around the rim. Oh dear.

They suggested a city which was miles away which will probably have dedicated cycle shops (instead of a ski shop stocking bikes for 3 months over summer). I asked about buses etc and they then understood my predicament. After scratching theirs heads for a bit they said they had a selection of wheels in their storage which may be alright but probably of a lesser quality - considering my original wheel was the low end stock wheel that came with the bike anyway I doubt I would notice any lack in performance, and I hoped 'lesser quality' meant heavy which I hoped translated to stronger. Anyway, they were expecting the shipment of all their winter stock in the morning so could do nothing until after lunch, so I should come back then (as with Italy everyone closes over lunch).

In the meantime I had a look around town for a bit, stocked up at the supermarket, and did some more route planning. I discovered that my timing was impeccable! It seems that this week marked the end of the summer season so most places had shut down for a weeks holiday before the winter starts ramping up. This town is very obviously a ski village and focuses it efforts in that area. I am just extremely lucky one of the shops that did bikes was open!

So I turned up at the shop at 1415, 15 minutes after they were supposed to open after lunch to find a shut shop and an absolutely dead town. I had a moment of 'oh, crap, did I misunderstand when I was supposed to come back?' I went and tried to ask, unsuccessfully, for a coffee at a cafe down the road to kill some time and try the bike shop again a bit later. Thankfully most people in the town speak awesome English so my coffee order was understood second time around when I asked in English.

Thankfully the bike shop was open after my coffee, and soon after a wheel was chosen and tyre as well. They were very sympathetic that the rear wheel did not match the front (who cares, get me on the road!), and I also have a different tyre on the back too - not as puncture resistant as the original but it was the best of what they had.

So, off I went again while they sorted it all out and did some planning, eating and sleeping. Have just been back now to pick up Rose and she is sorted; new wheel, tyre, and Rose is ready to go!

Highlight: Rose fixed!
Lowlight: Realising that I struggle with getting my head around the sounds of the French language in real life that I am really going to struggle to grasp it or be understood. I practice and practice before going into a shop or something and then just get tongue tied when trying to say it. Is interesting, and am sure over time will get better.
Lesson Learned: To date have not encountered any of the stereotypes of French people refusing to serve you or talk to you if you can't speak French. Maybe the lesson is that I should not expect stereotypes and await to make my own opinion.