Ride 47: Judi the Mechanic
I tried to beat a storm today, and wheeled out the yellow bike and made a dash for the first road.
I rode past the neighbor's horse, who looked at me, but was not unduly disturbed by my bike.
One of the neighbors was blowing bubbles out of a bubble machine, and their little dogs were going nuts jumping after the bubbles in their yard. Outside of their fence, a kitty was watching with interest, and stalked some bubbles herself.
I took the shorter, steeper hill to save time, and pedaled madly to the trail.
On the trail, I was pedaling strongly, when a brown critter, low to the ground, exploded out from the fence line. I startled badly, swerved, and my hands on the handlebars turned the gearshift as my leg shot out. There was a grinding sound, and the pedal stopped going round, stuck.
Thunder sounded close by as I coasted to a stop, and saw a brown shape scuttle through the weeds. It may have been a groundhog, a raccoon, or a possum, although I rather think it was a groundhog, for I've seen those near the path before further down the trail. Climbing off my bike, I saw the chain had not only come off the rear spokes, but also jammed between the gears and the supports.
It started to spit rain. More thunder. I tried loosening it, but it seemed pretty stuck. I got back on, and kicked along the ground and coasted under a tree as more rain started to sprinkle.
Getting off and re-examining the problem, because I hoped to ride home instead of kick / coasting or walking back in the rain, I adjusted the gear shift thingy in the back, giving me slack enough to pull the chain from the stuck position, and placed the chain back on a gear.
Getting on my bike, I shifted the right side to a middle gear, and started pedaling, which wound the chain back around the front gear. Smoothly, the bike started pedaling. Success!
It was spitting in earnest now, so I rode back toward home. Checking my progress on myfastfeet.com I found that I had gone 1.2 miles today. So not much progress, but at least I was able to get myself out of a jam.
I rode past the neighbor's horse, who looked at me, but was not unduly disturbed by my bike.
One of the neighbors was blowing bubbles out of a bubble machine, and their little dogs were going nuts jumping after the bubbles in their yard. Outside of their fence, a kitty was watching with interest, and stalked some bubbles herself.
I took the shorter, steeper hill to save time, and pedaled madly to the trail.
On the trail, I was pedaling strongly, when a brown critter, low to the ground, exploded out from the fence line. I startled badly, swerved, and my hands on the handlebars turned the gearshift as my leg shot out. There was a grinding sound, and the pedal stopped going round, stuck.
Thunder sounded close by as I coasted to a stop, and saw a brown shape scuttle through the weeds. It may have been a groundhog, a raccoon, or a possum, although I rather think it was a groundhog, for I've seen those near the path before further down the trail. Climbing off my bike, I saw the chain had not only come off the rear spokes, but also jammed between the gears and the supports.
It started to spit rain. More thunder. I tried loosening it, but it seemed pretty stuck. I got back on, and kicked along the ground and coasted under a tree as more rain started to sprinkle.
Getting off and re-examining the problem, because I hoped to ride home instead of kick / coasting or walking back in the rain, I adjusted the gear shift thingy in the back, giving me slack enough to pull the chain from the stuck position, and placed the chain back on a gear.
Getting on my bike, I shifted the right side to a middle gear, and started pedaling, which wound the chain back around the front gear. Smoothly, the bike started pedaling. Success!
It was spitting in earnest now, so I rode back toward home. Checking my progress on myfastfeet.com I found that I had gone 1.2 miles today. So not much progress, but at least I was able to get myself out of a jam.