Then, however, as I neared my turnaround point at Ellsworth Rd., I thought I could hear a noise coming from one of the tires. I stopped, unclipped from the pedals, got up and checked the tires, but all three seemed to be OK in firmness and in appearance. So, puzzled, I got back on the trike and began to ride again. But this time, I had only gone about 10 feet when I could both feel and see that the right front tire was going flat.
The most dismaying part of the whole experience was walking the .8 mile home in my cycling shoes, with the metal clips protruding from the bottom of them and grinding on the cement sidewalk. But I took my time, and made it fine; now I'll take the car back down, disassemble the trike, load it into the back seat, and plan a trip to Dearborn tomorrow. I can't go today, as we have workmen coming this afternoon for whom I need to be here, and when I go tomorrow, I'll just have them replace all three tires and tubes so I'm in good shape for the Ride for Recovery fundraiser I'm riding next weekend. I'm doing the 25-mile ride, and I don't want to get out in the middle of it and have a problem.
Anyway, it made for a ride today of 8.7 miles in a slow time of 68 minutes. If I had been able to do even two round trips today, it would have put me over 600 miles for the year. But instead, I remain just shy of that milestone.
LATE MORNING
When I drove back down to pick up the trike, it was in a place that allowed me to drive up onto the trail so that I wouldn't have to leave the car on the shoulder of the road. I set the flashers going, and began disassembling the trike. I got the bolts holding the rear rack off OK (in order to permit the trike to fold), and got the seat removed. But then, after I folded the outriggers, and loaded it into the rear seat, and went to fold the middle joint (the final step) in order to let the doors close, the pin would not slide back as it should. After trying for several minutes, I finally decided to back it out so I could stand it up on end and be able to work the joint more easily.
Several more minutes of work, however, were leading nowhere, and I was just beginning to conclude that I might have to chain it back up to the pole and go borrow a van from someone, when my angel appeared. A bearded young man (early thirties, I would say) with a ball cap and a big grin pulled up behind me and asked, "You need some help?" I managed to convey to him what the problem was, that I needed to get the pin to slide back but it wouldn't move, and he said, "Hold on -- I just bought a new can of WD-40 this morning!" So he jogged back to his truck and got that, but it still failed to do the trick. Then he said, "Wait a minute -- let's try a screwdriver on it." Jogging back to his truck once more, he got the screwdriver ... but that didn't do the trick either.
Finally, he said, "Let's try one more tool." So he jogged back to the truck a third time, and got a small awl that he could use to try to punch the pin back the way it was supposed to go ... and this time, we were met with success! Once we got the joint to fold, he must have thought this old man he was helping needed further assistance, so he asked, "Need me to help you put it in the car?" I said, "That would be great!" So he picked it up and slid it in, while I went around to the other side of the car to help pull it in and be sure everything was copacetic.
Then he grinned again and shook my hand, and said, "You have a good day now, OK?" I went to reach for my wallet so I could show him my explanatory card of why I couldn't speak, and that I didn't mean to be unfriendly -- but misunderstanding my intent, he held his hands up and said, "No, no—I can't take your money. All I ask is that you pay it forward and help someone else when you have the chance." I finally got the card out and showed him, though, eliciting yet another grin and a handshake, and a hug, and I thanked him again and we both went on our way.
Now, when I go to Jack's Bicycle tomorrow, in addition to having them replace the tires and tubes, I'll take a note explaining today's situation, and asking if they can work on that pin so that it will slide freely once more. And, regarding the original problem of the tire, it was not a blowout, but I suspect it may have been related to an issue Doug told me about (the need to check my tire pressure). I hadn't checked them recently, and think low pressure may have contributed to the problem. But while loading the trike in the car, I noticed that the tires are getting to the point where they need to be replaced anyway, and those front tires had almost 1500 miles on them, plus the rear one had that hold in it a couple of weeks ago, so I think replacement of them now is timely.
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