I decided to celebrate Earth Day on Sunday by taking the bike out on the highway for the first time this spring. The weather was overcast and still pretty chilly but there was no rain in site so I decided to go for it. I had to meet my parents in Ponoka which is almost exactly 105kms south of Edmonton. Unfortunately, I had to be there by noon.
I left Edmonton at 630am and fought the insanely timed Sunday morning traffic lights until I was out of the city.
Everything was ok until I past Leduc where I noticed there was more and more snow around. The wind was stronger and colder too. I actually had to stop once or twice to get the blood moving back in my feet. The monotony of highway 2 is the hardest part. I've ridden the highway many times and it never really gets very interesting visually. There's hawks and car wreck debris here and there but that's about it. The rest is little more than five and a half hours of sensory deprivation.

Labels: cycling, day to day

So I'm out running errands this afternoon, taking it easy after yesterday long ride out of town. I'm just leaving the bridge path and heading into busy traffic. I clutched my brake for whatever reason and there was no brakes to be found other than a gentle rubbing against the rim. (BTW, I haven't had rear brakes installed for a couple years now. They're usually not very useful.) Anyway, I managed to coast to a halt without destroying my shoes or slamming into anything or anyone.

The real lesson to this short little tale is to make sure when using replaceable brake pads, to make sure the pins are securely in place.

I've found myself without brakes a few times over the years for one stupid reason or another. My usual reaction is to either make a hard right turn at the first available instance which slowed me significantly or perform a Flintstones style foot grinding stop which is really bad for the shoes and cleats. I was one told by a passing motorist that he could see sparks coming off my cleats during one such stop.

Labels: cycling, day to day