69th ride of 2016 - Sunday, 5/15/2016 (A new era with a new trike)

I hadn't been able to ride since a week ago yesterday, so I was very eager and glad to be able to get out there today. Last Saturday (May 7), the frame of my trike broke yet again (the third time—it happened previously last August and last November). In a heartening display of customer service, the Grand Rapids manufacturer, TerraTrike, offered me an "even trade," taking my old Traveler model off my hands and giving me a new Rambler.

My friend Doug Tidd took me to Jack's Bicycle in Dearborn yesterday afternoon to effect the trade, as Stowe, a TerraTrike employee, brought the new one over, transferred hardware from the old to the new (such as lights and the mirror), and adjusted the new one, including its chain, so that it fit me just right. This picture shows me on the new Rambler, with Stowe. (I learned that he was born in Germany, and elicited a big grin from him when we were finished and I told him, "Vielen, vielen Dank!"

It was good that I wanted to ride so badly, though, because as I was riding home from church this morning, I was dismayed to see a bit of light snow—and I thought, "This is just wrong for the middle of May!" I got a little of it during my ride, too (even though it was a balmy 39° when I began, about 11:20), and the small crystalline icy snowflakes stung my cheeks.

I monitored the trike carefully to see how it compared to the old one, but I was mildly surprised to find that it rode almost precisely the same—except that it was blessedly absent the assorted clacking and rattling that the old one had developed as its joints and connections loosened up over time.

Anyway, due to the weather, I kept the ride relatively short, just going down to the north edge of Saline and back, for a ride of 11.5 miles in 1:14.