Disastrous days -- part V

Just when I thought things could not get worse with my ever-breaking down bicycle, they got worse, today. I was only a mile and a half into my Tremont Cemetery ride, fortunately, when my left crank arm and its attached pedal broke off of my bike. I had just crossed F Street, heading east. I was easily making my way up the Covell Blvd overpass in 5th gear (on the back sprocket) when I lurched forward as my left foot came crashing to the ground. I didn't realize what had happened. I thought my chain had merely slipped. However, when I stopped and got off my bike, I could see that my left pedal and its crank arm were gone. I found them 20 feet down the hill.

So once again, for the third time in four days, I had to walk my bike home. I have yet to get my bike repaired. I think I will take it to a different shop. I'm a little perturbed at B&L, feeling that their service has not been great for me. My rear wheel, the one they sold me, they now tell me is not the right caliber of wheel for my needs. If that's the case, why did they sell it to me? Also, I am unhappy with my rear tire, and that is one they installed, never asking me if I wanted instead to buy one less apt to be punctured. Finally, having just gone to B&L on Saturday, I'm embarrassed to bring my bike back in, broken, so soon.

Disastrous days

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Today is going to be a vacation from the Bicycle Diet for me. All started out normal, ready for my usual Monday trip out to the Tremont Cemetery and back. (I even had the good news of weighing in at 237 pounds, my lowest yet.) However, just where I turn left from Davis Road onto Tremont Road, I felt my rear tire going flat. As I know now, the hole in the inner tube was in the exact spot where I supposedly fixed the hole I got yesterday. As a result of today's flat tire, I walked my bike a half mile north on Old Davis Road, before hiding it behind an old black walnut tree near a large field of sunflowers. From there, I walked another hour home, got the car, drove back and picked up my unlocked bicycle.

Today's problem makes three straight days of disaster: Saturday my seat broke on Midway Road and I had a horrible ride back without a functioning seat. On top of that, I broke a spoke and had another expensive repair bill at B&L. Sunday, I got my flat tire just before Road 96 on Covell, about the same distance from home as today's flat tire. And then today, I made it three lousy days in a row.