Among my stable’s steeds, I took the 700, so that both Cindy and I would be on trikes together, (ready everyone…”Awww!”).
I haven’t really ridden since getting here, except the fun rides with Cindy, because the idler Plano Cycling & Fitness installed didn’t seem to be cutting the mustard anymore. I saw how the fixed position of the pulley was causing shifting problems. Jay, from the Mosquito Works of Gorman Industries, suggested a fix, replacing the idler with a length of chain tube. So elegantly simple and cheap and I happened to have tubes on hand. I went from this:
to this:
, fixing the tube in place forward and back, but allowing ample side to side movement as the chain moved among the cogs. Yesterday, was the shakedown ride…at the C-470 Bikeway!!
Wow, what a trail. Tough climbs with hellified descents. It parallels Interstate 470, starting in Golden. From Golden Heights Park, it immediately goes up what seems a quarter mile between 3.8% and 7.5. I slowly went up the whole thing without waking Granny. After that, it’s a 10 minute descent where you’re reaching speeds in the mid-30s mph without pedaling…faster if you foolhardy. The replacement tube worked perfectly. Thanks, Jay!
I only went out and back about 5 miles of the 29.6 because light would be fading soon, and I had to get back to helps Cindy prepare for her surgery. The most thrilling part happened on the return trip. I was descending about 27mph on this one stretch which briefly turned up. I couldn’t see over the rise, but figured it was continuing straight. Wrong. It veered right, while my speed carried me straight, bouncing out of control into the weeds. A real dead man’s curve if you’re too hot approaching it. The trike stayed upright, though while braking, I skinned my right Kojak down to its blue belt, and I received a good scratch from the woody weeds. Lesson learned. I’ll be back right after I replace that tire. What a trail…not for the novice.