We thought we were gonna have to cancel our bike adventure. The weather was not cooperating most of the weekend.
We woke up this morning to an overcast and cold day.
Linda was not happy to have our plans canceled.
However, when we walked out of Temple after our class and the Religious School end of year concert, the sun was shining and the temperature was in the 60's. We looked at each other and smiled.
A half our later, we were changed into shorts and t-shirts, had the bikes loaded in the CR-V and we were heading to Guilford.
We were both nervous, but optimistic. It was not a race. It would be a nice route through a historic area, with a nice marina area and a town green and then the rest of the route would be through the countryside. It sounded wonderful.
We headed out about 2pm, from the commuter lot off I-95. We arrived at our first destination - the marina - within 20 minutes. We enjoyed watching the boats and had a little snack. We just wished we had a camera with us to capture some of the sights.
The route had us back-track up to the town green and then we were on an actual 'bike route' for a few miles passing by the historic homes that we'd read about in the bike tour book.
As we headed north and hit the countryside, we were both in good spirits and commenting on the beautiful old and new houses that we were passing along the way.
At about 8 miles, we came upon the only really killer hill that we'd have to deal with, so we stopped at little deli shop parking lot to rest and have some water. We got back on the bikes feeling confident that the hill would not be a problem. And it wasn't! As we made the right turn at the top of the hill, we felt so exhilarated and that the hard part of the ride was over. Smooth sailing for the rest of the route!
Or so we thought...
We reached the 9 mile mark and my right foot felt like it was sliding off the pedal. I kept putting back up and then all of a sudden there was a "CLUNK' noise and my foot hit the ground. Linda, who was riding ahead of me, stopped and asked, "What was that?"
My right pedal was lying in the road behind me.
Yep - fell off. Apparently, the nut to hold it in was lost and we couldn't get it to screw back in, so we're not sure if it stripped somehow or what happened. We both laughed after we tried to put it back on the bike and failed. Shrugging, I put the pedal in the front pocket of my cargo shorts (also known as lesbian purse shorts!) and said, "I'll just ride with just one pedal!"
And I did, for about 6 miles! Admittedly, I had to walk up some hills, and Linda even pulled me for a bit, bless her!
[For those of you who don't know us, I'm 5'9 and a large-framed woman and she's 5'0" at sub 100lbs, so you can imagine the extra workout she was getting pulling me along! I told her that this was my contribution to her duathalon training!]
There we were riding side-by-side holding hands, but a bit unbalanced, as she was riding with only one hand on the handle bars and I was trying to keep my balance with no where to put my right foot! It was crazy, yet it was working on the parts of the route that were flat, except for one time when I ended up crashing into her, but that bruise on her inner thigh will be gone in no time, I'm sure!
Still we rode on, thinking how nice the day was and how beautiful the sights were.
At 12.7 miles, we heard another metallic clunk sound and I was the one leading at the time and it was far enough behind me that I knew it wasn't something off my bike. Linda was still riding, but had turned around to see what it was. She thought maybe she had just run over something, but as it turned out, a part of her kickstand had fallen off. We just laughed our asses off, standing in the middle of this country road asking ourselves, "What the hell was going on with our fairly new mountain bikes?!!!"
I put the kickstand part in my other cargo shorts pocket and off we went - the one-pedal bike rider and the kickstandless bike rider!
Another mile down the road, we saw a horse in a little corral in front of a house. The horse started swishing his tail as we approached and did a little footwork dance as he approached the fence to hang his beautiful head over it to stare right at us.
Of course, we had to stop and pet him. He was so velvety soft. He let both of us pet his nose and head and then walked along the fence with us as we got back on the road. What a treat!
It was slow going, this one-pedal business. Linda kept asking if I wanted to stop and she'd ride on, get the car and come back and get me. I insisted I could keep up, but my left leg was really being over worked and my right leg was doing strange things to keep the pedals moving, which ultimately was affecting my ass - which up until I lost the pedal, had been doing just fine. My butt was getting seriously sore.
At about 15 miles, it was about 5pm. We'd been 'on the road' for 3 hours. We knew we had about 5 miles to go and at the rate I was going, it was gonna take us a LONG time to get to the car. The decision was made that I would stop and Linda would ride on, get the car and come back for me.
As soon as she took off, I parked the bike and leaned up against a fence and promptly fell asleep! Yep - - I was exhausted!
Linda called me at 5:25 when she reached the car and then headed back to get me.
As we were loading the bikes into the back of the CR-V, Linda's chain fell off! We just cracked up with laughter!
The sky was getting dark with clouds and we had no sooner headed out in the car, the rain drops began to fall. Well, at least that was one disaster we avoided!
We drove the route (which is how we got the mileage I reference in this post) and just laughed and laughed as we passed the various memorable points... "oh, that's where the pedal fell off!!!" and "did we crash into each other in front of that house???!!"
What a great first time out! No one was injured. No one got lost. We got to spend an entire afternoon outside on a beautiful spring day getting some exercise and having a blast - together. It really was a great day.
BAHAHAHAHHAHHAHHAHAA -- ehem. ok... that sounded really sweet.
:D
Posted by: Tina-cious | 05/21/2007 at 06:35
sounds fun - what a day - so nice!
Posted by: Ezer K'negdo | 05/21/2007 at 08:05
tina... i KNEW you'd laugh your butt off!! :)
EK... it was fun, alright!
Posted by: val | 05/21/2007 at 08:51
Despite the bike issues it sounds like an absolutely wonderful day!
Perhaps you might want to look for a bike repair kit that could fit in those cargo shorts of yours! :)
Posted by: SassyFemme | 05/21/2007 at 16:09
Nice to know that in spite of the "bumps" along the way, you both remained positive, and more importantly, free-spirited and happy-go-lucky!
Sounds like a POSITIVELY memorable day.
Posted by: Pearl | 05/21/2007 at 16:57
SF - - even with the repair kit, that pedal was not going back on! :)
It's currently at the bike shop (along with Linda's) and they'll be ready by tomorrow.
Pearl - - very memorable!
Posted by: val | 05/21/2007 at 18:36
oyoyoyoyoy...you women are brave!!! i would have called a taxi and gone for dinner...sigh...glad huHA triggered happy memories...nice no? chag shavuot sameach my dear friend
Posted by: marallyn | 05/22/2007 at 00:54
Marallyn... taxi and dinner wouldn't have been as fun! :) huHA indeed! VERY nice.
Posted by: val | 05/22/2007 at 00:58