All fixed!

I picked up my bike wheel from the repair shop, and am very happy to see it’s nice and straight again! Looking forward to riding some more, after we get back from our visit with Jennefer’s mom. 

Oops - that was a BIG bump

Oh well. So much for bike riding for awhile. My third ride of April started out really well, on a windy but nice 70 degree afternoon. I got about a third of the way around my favorite loop, when I decided to explore the unusual intersection in the C-470 trail, where it goes through a tunnel under the highway, after climbing over Chatfield dam, intersects with another trail, and continues West. I saw what I needed to see, and was heading back down under the highway, when I came to a heave in the concrete trail, where it stepped up a couple of inches. I hopped the front wheel over it, but I guess I was going too fast, because when the back wheel hit the bump, there was a loud bang, and the wheel started hitting the frame.

  After I got stopped, I saw that four spokes had broken in the back wheel, which let the wheel warp, and it was jammed and wouldn't turn. I was lucky to be at the intersection of three trails, so I was able to carry the bike the thousand feet to the nearest street. I was pondering my next move - calling for a rideshare or imposing on a friend - when the nicest guy in a plumbing van parked by the trailhead offered me a ride home, as his next job didn't start for 45 minutes. I have no right to be this lucky, but I'll take it. I've already been to the local bike shop, which has a workshop backlog until the 29th. I bought some new spokes, and am considering re-lacing that part of my wheel - something I've never tried before, and I've heard can be really tricky. YouTube says it's doable, though, so maybe I'll give it a try, and be back on the road a little sooner.

We're vaccinated!

We got our second Moderna vaccination on March 17, and it's been over two weeks since then, so now we can say we are as fully protected by this particular vaccine as possible. I still don't feel completely safe, considering that there are already multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 running around. But everything I've read says that even if we catch a variant, the existing vaccine should make it a much less serious event. So we will continue to cross our fingers, keep our distance, wear our masks, and wash our hands a lot. Notwithstanding all that cautiousness, we are tentatively planning a trip to visit Jennefer's mom in southwest Oregon next month, and considering other trips after that!