Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Mission Aborted

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 12% BF
 
Better Luck Next Time: I was set to ride Sals last night (once I finished cleaning/lubricating the bike after Friday's adventure), but on the way over I was having trouble staying clipped in to the left pedal: nothing looked wrong with either the pedal or the cleat, but I'd pop out at odd and inopportune moments. Not fun, possibly dangerous, I turned around after getting partway down the Orange ("Roller Toaster") trail. I can't be sure, but I suspect that the pedal was the offending part, since it took a beating on Friday, and the shoes/cleats worked just fine on Sunday's road ride. I got home, mowed the lawn (still no photo evidence, heh heh), and after dinner I replaced the pedals with the somewhat newer ones on the singlespeed -- the right pedal came off just fine, but the left one was sort of seized on to the crank and put up a struggle; I also noticed that the spindle bearing was pretty gummed up (and there were a few holes knocked in the housing for water to get in too), so I think the pedal was at the end of its useful life. That's my dominant foot, I guess it just takes more of a beating than the right pedal...
 
(Dinner, by the way, was awesome: Anne grabbed a bunch of string beans from the garden and steamed them, and we had cheese and avocado sandwiches with piles and piles of string beans.)
 
That's Living: Sunday's ride worked out a little better. Anne and I rode through the Durham township area (my recent stomping grounds) to Reigelsville, and then down to Milford on the Jersey side, then we rode back to the Reigelsville Inn where we met Larry who rode down the towpath from Easton. Outdoor seating by the canal, some lunch -- menu was mostly seafood so I just had bread, but it was good bread -- and a couple of Magic Hats, and finally we made our way back to Bethlehem via similar Bucks County back roads. Sunny day, life was good on Sunday... We had dinner outside too, at Brew Works.
 
Firecracker: No ride Saturday, but Anne and I went to her mom's house for a BBQ with all her brothers and sisters and their families. Good times, spent mostly stuffing face (rather than painting the porch, which we arrived too late to help with). We hung out most of the day and checked out the town fair, but skipped the Jim Thorpe fireworks, opting to escape before the roads got crowded, and got home in time to catch the Bethlehem ones from the porch steps. (Stay tuned for photos.)
 
A Short Epic: Here's a link to Friday's ride. I'll post pictures for this event soon as well.
 
Tonight I'll be trying for a ride, probably on the road, if the rain holds off.

No comments: