2021 mileage: 2629.3
I wanted to ride early today so that I could be home in plenty of time for the Tigers' 1:00 game, but complications meant that I didn't arrive until the bottom of the first inning. I was glad to even make that, however!
I left at 10 a.m. in 42° cloud cover, and set off to ride the Packard/Platt Square. It was going splendidly through the first five and a half miles ... but then, after having ridden south on the sidewalk paralleling Platt Road from Packard to Ellsworth (the eastern side of this route), I was stopped, waiting for the light to allow me to cross Ellsworth. All had been fine to that point, with not a hint of any trouble ... but when the light changed and I began to try to move forward, I made it a foot or so and then could go no farther.
After dismounting and wheeling the trike back onto the sidewalk (our of the way of the oncoming traffic), I began to examine it, and it didn't take long at all to discover the problem: the chain had somehow come off the gear in front, and was wrapped awkwardly around the pedal crank.
I worked with it for 5-10 minutes, but could see that it was beyond my ability to disentangle. As I was just coming to the conclusion that I was stymied, a young man came riding by asked if he could help. I whipped out my wallet and showed him my card. Then upon pointing out the problem, I stepped back and let him wrestle with it for several minutes, but he could make no headway either. So I texted my dear friend Dan Cogan.
Dan has helped me on a number of occasions in the past—most often (but not exclusively) with tire issues. This time he told me he could be there soon, and a few minutes later he rolled up.
Although it was a tremendous mess, and I despaired of it being reparable, Dan had it straightened out within 10 minutes. When I told him he was a genius, he laughed, and self-deprecatingly said, "Naw ... just lucky this time."
I later told Dan that, though I don't share his Jewishness, I could say most definitely that he is a mensch, which the dictionary tells me is a Yiddish word meaning "a person of integrity and honor." I was surprised by being able to finish the ride, getting home at a reasonable hour despite the roughly 45-minute interruption.
Because of this break, Relive created two separate videos today ... of the first part of the ride, and of the second part.
Relive video of first part of ride
Relive video of second part of ride
No comments:
Post a Comment