Ack! ... Cough, Cough ....

Ack! What the heck is that wiggling around at the back of my throat?!? Not another bug!

Yep, it happened on the way home yesterday. I supplemented my diet with some high-protein, low-fat materials. Of course, getting it down was a bit of a problem. These things tend to hang on when they are swallowed whole. I did try to enhance its ability to leave with a series of coughs, but it just wasn't working out (I was also still trying to focus on staying on the road). A few hearty gulps from the camelback finally did the trick.

This morning, one of his (her?) kin (probably a distant cousin), decided to avenge the death by stinging me on the leg. I'm just thankful that she didn't go for the offending body part and sting me somewhere on the face. She just put a nice welt on my thigh. And I thought the cooler weather we are having would quell the insect activity. I guess the upper 50s isn't low enough. Hurry up winter! I can't take much more of this!

The road bike rides again!

I spent some time over the weekend repairing the damage to the bike and trailer. Both were easier to make functional than I expected.

For the trailer, I was planning on getting a new piece of tubing, but couldn't make it to the only hardware store in town before they closed at noon on Saturday (one of the joys of small town living!). I decided to improvise. I began by bending the hitch arm straight. I got lucky and found an old handlebar which had the same outer diameter as the inner diameter of the hitch arm. I cut it to length and then hammered it into the hitch arm until it crossed the break. Two holes drilled through both pieces of tubing on either side of the break were just right for a pair of bolts to keep things from moving around. I guess I should get some pictures of the repairs....

It didn't take much work to fix the rear wheel on the bike. Just a little time with a spoke wrench had the rear wheel spinning again. I did have to readjust the brakes a bit. But the wheel is recentered and only wobbles a little. I plan to spend a little more time working on it when I can.

This morning was the first commute on the road bike after the incident. Everything worked just like it did before. I didn't notice any unruly wobbles. Perhaps this frame will be ok for a while.