11 September 2010

Squirmy cleats, sharp sticks, and other misadventures.

My my, what exciting stuff can happen on a scant 5 mile bike ride!

Ride #6, 11 September 2010.
We (my sweetie and I) were out again this weekend on the Folsom bicycle trails – it was around 90 F and there were more bicyclists then walkers out on a Saturday afternoon. Now, I'm on a recumbent trike so I can creep up slopes quite slowly and, if I get in the wrong gear, I can slow quite unexpectedly. So it is not wise to tailgate me. Also, the lovely Purple Sky flag I have is quite long and because it is in an improvised temporary holder on my rack, angled back somewhat more than it might otherwise be. The eyes of a 6' 4” fellow on a fairly upright bike slowing suddenly behind my trike are about in the same place as the end of the flag! But we had more fun than not (and more than a sharp stick in the eye).

We stopped twice to adjust my sweetheart's seat and I had a little bit of trouble unclipping my left the second time we stopped. I also had serious damp butt since I had sat on the end of my hydration tube for a mile or so. Then I started getting a squirmy feeling between the left shoe and the cleat, and by the time we got back to the car, I could not get my left shoe out of the clip, so I just left the shoe on the pedal and we loaded up the car. The shoe looked pretty silly just dangling there. Turns out (as I'm sure the more experienced among you know) that one or both of the screws holding the cleat to the shoe had loosened. I released the tension spring almost all the way and finally got the cleat and shoe off.

I was going to do a Sunday/Tues/Thurs week but since this was the second day in a row, I think I'll be wise and do MWF again. So tomorrow I'll work on adjusting the rear derailleur a little bit. 
Time to improvise a shop rack!

View Interactive Map on MapMyRide.com

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