I was last able to ride a week ago today, the layoff being caused first by inclement weather (it rained almost all of last week), and then by mechanical issues. Saturday morning I was just beginning my ride, and got a few hundred yards away from home, starting down the hill toward Oak Valley, when the plastic tube through which the chain passes became detached, migrated forward, and got caught in the derailleur and all chewed up. This allowed me to ride no further, so I had to stop and walk the trike back up the hill and home to our garage. I texted my cycling mentor, Doug Tidd, who came over and looked it over, determining that a trip back to the dealer in Dearborn would be necessary.
I couldn't go that day because of plans Michelle and I had to go out of town (to the party for the 14th birthday of our niece Lauren), and they are closed on Sunday, so I had to wait to take it this morning—a venture that was only possible because of Michelle's kind recent assembly of the rack to transport it on our car.
Anyway, after this extended layoff, I thought it prudent to break back in easily, so I just did a piddly little ride, short and slow—a route past our former church, Westminster Presbyterian (all on sidewalks, of course), late this afternoon after we got Michelle home from school. This was a ride that measured only 5.2 miles, in a slow time of 44 minutes. But at least I was rewarded with gorgeous weather conditions (58° and bright sunshine).
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