One of my younger brothers moved into his own apartment in the “big city” just a few weeks ago. Last night I called him up to ask if he would want to walk to his workplace with me the following morning. He usually drives the two miles to work but he has expressed an interest in walking so I thought maybe if I showed up it would give him a bit of motivation.
I did the calculation in my head-it is 27 miles to his house, then two miles of walking-he starts his shift at 8:00…I wanted to set my alarm to make sure we had enough time!
Walking took a little longer than we anticipated and we ended up at his workplace at exactly 8:00. It was great spending a bit of time together, he is such a sweet guy. Maybe we will get the chance to do it again sometime!
It drizzled on the way home but the sun was shining and the smell of the fallen leaves made me smile. Then the shifting cable for my rear derailleur snapped. Yippee! For the last 15 miles of the ride my bike was effectively a two-speed. Highest gear in the back, big or middle ring in the front. I had to climb any and all hills out of the saddle, with a painfully slow cadence.
After a few miles I went past a field with four Galloway cattle, two of them with striking white belts. Naturally, I stopped to say hi. For a while they wanted nothing to do with me, but finally, after an excessive amount of coaxing, one of them galloped clumsily toward me. The others soon followed. Awww…now I could see their adorable faces up close. Eventually, they went back to their grazing and I went on my way.
Five miles more and I once again stopped, this time to hang out with some gorgeous horses. They were super friendly. Every time I am around horses, especially draft horses, I am amazed at their quiet strength.
The road took me past an Amish schoolhouse, where about fifteen pupils were outside playing noisily in the grass. They waved at me, smiling. Then the bell at the top of the schoolhouse began to swing back and forth.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Recess was over. They scurried inside.
I was slowly grinding up the last hill before home when a German Shepherd rushed into the road behind me. I love dogs but I was bitten on my bike last summer. Now every time I see a dog running behind me I can’t help but be nervous. Without the use of my gears there was no way I could beat the dog up the hill, so I stopped and clipped out, ready to calm the dog down.
But I had totally misjudged the dog’s intent. She ran up to me whining and when I started petting her, she flopped to the ground and asked for a belly rub. Poor thing, I think her owners were out for the day and had left her in charge of the farm. She was lonely.
So thanks to a bunch of friendly animals, the ride home was a great one, even without gears.
What an excellent day!! 🙂 I always worry about being chased by dogs too while biking- glad that one was friendly!!! 🙂
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Yeah, the “prey instinct” that dogs have doesn’t do us cyclists any favors!
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That’s a lovely story 🙂 The horses look so beautiful… and the cattle too. As for that dog? it’s ten out of ten on the cute scale. Thanks for sharing your ride home with us.
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Hopefully the cows and horses didn’t mind me interrupting their peaceful grazing…
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They look like they didn’t mind. Little do they know they’re now celebrity cows and horses 🙂
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Haha!
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Belly rubs! Yay!
It was great to hear about your walk with your brother – I hope that encourages him to do that more.
Now for your gear cable… did it snap in the shifter itself by any change? My bike eats through a cable in a year
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I was shifting to a harder gear and when I heard the cable snap in the shifter. It was a sad moment. Now I am trying to get my bike into the bike shop-the guy only does bikes on the side-he is a full time teacher so hopefully it won’t take too long to get fixed. Thank goodness for my MTB 😀
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I think we have the same issue. I keep a spare cable with me when I start to notice it begin to go – it’s a simple fix (aside from getting the gears perfect again)… it’s a nuisance that the cables don’t seem to last in these shifters. Lucky you have a backup bike 😉
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I got my bike back this morning, yay! The bike shop guy told me he had never seen a cable so shredded before…I guess when I break a cable I really do it in style!
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay and watch him fix it I guess I will have to watch some youtube videos because I think your method of bringing a spare cable along is a great one. But before I do that I need to learn how to replace them!
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If my cable snaps again any time soon I’ll be tempted to make a how-to video for you 😀
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That would be amazing! Is it bad that now I am wishing for your cable to snap?
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lol yes, stop it :p *packs his spare cable in his bag ready*
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If your cable snaps, you know who to blame!
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Cable snap …. That’s a definite training opportunity. Your commutes sound a lot more interesting than mine.
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That’s because I don’t blog about the not so interesting ones 😉
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awww, that’s so nice cycling 27 miles and back to spend time with your brother…mine had a hard time managing to even drive 6 miles to see me !
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I can never remember the breed of those cattle
I was thinking they were Dutch rather than Irish. We just call them the Oreo cows.
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Maybe they taste like Oreos! Question for you…is wordpress working on your end? I can’t load my reader or the “new post” page.
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I’ve been using it on my phone and have had no problems. I’ll try it on the computer later.
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Okay, it is probably just me then, thanks for letting me know 🙂
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Just checked. No issues here.
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Thanks for double checking, today it is working just fine!
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