In Which A Mirror Cracks During A Good Bike Week

Me this morning reflected in a cracked mirror. Well, the sky is blue and the sun is shining and it was a fine biking day anyway. (And yes, I put on my helmet before I started biking).

One day this week, Wednesday, I think, I drove a car to work, due to a wet morning.

The other days I was on Francis, and the weather has been pretty kind to a biker. Of course, we’re in a dry pattern that is a bit worrisome, what with last year’s drought and all—but I guess if you’re going to have a dry month of no consequence, March is not a poor choice.

There is snow in the forecast and colder temperatures next week. So I may not get a lot of extra miles in during spring break, but I do plan to ride some tomorrow, even if it’s cold.

And I’m going to “close” the RAGBRAI group and officially finish the registration process, probably tomorrow.

Anyway, I did have one minor mishap. Thursday night, I parked the bike too close to the garage door, without realizing it, and when I closed the door, it smacked and cracked the bike mirror.

It’s been a good mirror, but I probably will have to replace it.

Still, all in all, it’s been a good week to be a bike commuter, and despite some early spring winter-like weather next week, I think we’re getting to that part of year where the nice biking weather will become more and more common.

May your peddles spin, your tyres hum and the trail be fine and clear for you! Bike on!

A Flat! And Not a Musical Note .....

I was a bit stiff and sore last night, after my 64-mile ride, and briefly had painful cramps in the large muscle of my upper left leg. The bigger the muscle, the more painful the cramp, and I was making unhappy "ouch" noises while Audrey was asking me "what's wrong?"

Well, clearly, my command of speech while my brain is reeling from a leg cramps is limited. Eventually I managed to moan out the words "leg cramp," which I think were a relief to her since it's wasn't a heart attack.

So I wondered what the night and next day would bring. See photo of my tired face, taken during my final break yesterday before doing the last 11 miles of my ride. After that, I expected many physical problems--I have a touchy back which can get quite painful, and I thought walking would be a challenge today.

The night, surprise, surprise, brought a full 8 hours of restful sleep--not that normal for a mid-50s man. Our ability to sleep soundly does not improve with age, or at least mine doesn't. (And no, although it is true that I make more sound when sleeping now, that's not the same as soundly sleeping .....) But 64 miles will knock you out like a six pack, and there's far less danger of accidentally dampening the sheets.

And the morning produced another miracle. I was indeed stiff and sore, but I wake up almost every morning stiff and sore--another perk of middle age. I was not exceptionally stiff and shore, and after walking around and stretching, was ready for the short bike ride to the gym.

But, my bike had other plans, specifically, a flat tire in the front. My previous flats had been in the rear, so the bike maintenance problems are branching out.

Anyway, zero miles so far today. Going to do a little mechanical work--fix the flat and install a new mirror--and I hope to get a few miles in this evening. Wish me luck. My mechanical skills are like my innate musical talent--almost nonexistent, but if I keep pushing I can sometimes do something.

I guess an off day after yesterday is OK, although I did plan to go into work today. My mighty steed did not cooperate. More miles, and work, tomorrow!

Bike Repairs, Big and Small

Well, folks, I got in 25 miles today, before it happened.

I was crossing the parking lot at Go Daddy in Hiawatha--my usual route from the Cedar River Trail towards my house some 3 miles east of there in north Cedar Rapids--when I felt like the bike did a shimmy. A sidestep, a slide--or some other dance move.

I don't dance, and neither does my bike. I was worried a whole bunch of spokes must have popped at once and the rear wheel was rapidly disintegrating like the old computer on Star Trek that went up in smoke when it was asked to compute pi to the last digit.

The wheel and spokes were fine. But the inner tube was deflating.

Feeling as deflated as my back wheel, I started walking home. As I walked, the back wheel lost it's remaining air, and the tire separated from the wheel wall and began to get in the way of the brake. Every rotation of the wheel it got stuck. Every time--and did I mention I was three miles from home?

I called Audrey for a rescue ride. She was at a park with grandkids and had to take them home to come get me. 5 minutes after I called her, I figured out that if I carefully kept the bike totally upright and walked fairly slowly, I could avoid the brake problem--tried to call her back to cancel the rescue (3 miles is a hike, but doable), but it was too late.

Sigh. So we stopped at the bike shop and got me a new inner tube. Not going to do RAGBRAI on a patched tube that has been flat before!

In the meantime, I found a frame pump to put on my bike--won't work as well as the foot pump, but will certainly be more portable. And I super glued the mirror that you see on today's sports page of The Gazette.

Will have to fix the tube tomorrow, as I have some on-campus commitments. But it should be doable, and I will like having the mirror back (the mirror had snapped off of the other piece). Finally, Audrey got me new lights (I wanted two rear lights and having another front one is fine, too) that I got batteries for today, so I'll install those.

Between those chores and the computer I installed over the weekend, and Blackie has been having a lot of work done. Well, better now than 40 miles outside of Glenwood. And I'm glad the tire went flat in Hiawatha and not Thursday night in Center Point!