2021 mileage: 3935.7
Today's ride was ... interesting.
Yesterday I was glad to have the day off. In the morning, I accompanied U of M oboe professor Nancy Ambrose King playing my oboe solo Death and Resurrection at our church, and it had a very technically challenging piano part for me to deal with (drat that composer!), so I was happy to rest the remainder of the day, as I've practicing very diligently and working awfully hard in preparation for that over the last several months.
After Saturday's incident with my chain coming off, and wrapping itself around my axle and the rear tire, as well as destroying the derailleur, I took the trike to the dealer in Dearborn this morning for replacement of the derailleur.
Starting off on my ride at 1:00 in 80° sunshine, everything was going beautifully. But then it got interesting, and unnerving (to say the least). Three quarters of a mile into the ride, as I descended a hill on the sidewalk on the east side of Lohr Road headed toward the intersection with Ellsworth Road, I squeezed the brakes ... and nothing happened. I gulped, said a quick prayer, and looked left and right, but relieved to see no traffic approaching from either the east or the west, I glided safely across. (As always, I had been prepared to take any necessary evasive action -- for instance, riding off the sidewalk and overturning the trike in the grass. But this was not necessary.)
You can bet that for the next few miles I tried the brakes numerous times. However, for some reason unknown to me, the incident at the intersection seemed to have been a one-time aberration, and by the time I turned around at Marsh Park, I felt no longer any need for concern.
Also, this was my first-ever round trip to Marsh Park in less than an hour. MapMyRide measured it at 9.9 miles rather than the usual 10.2, and I don't know why ... I didn't vary my route any. But it felt good to make such good time.
When I finished, it was a pleasure to see our neighbors and friends Dan and Kim just coming out of our building as I was going in.
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