Today, Nace, Rita and I took our final regular Sunday ride to Gordon Drive. Bill was not along today to taunt me with his affectionate "here comes the son of a bitch" as I catch him during our initial sprint through Pelican Bay. Rita proved to be an outstanding alternate for Bill as she and I had three long sprints with 20-22 mph averages.
As usual, I always say a little silent prayer before riding since we are all too familiar with the perils of cycling. We did have the misfortune of a flat on Crayton Drive. I received the distress call with about a two mile lead on the ladies so I sprinted back to find them waiting in the shade with the tools and equipment neatly spread out and keeping company with a very nice gentleman and his enormous yellow lab and rottweiler. The weather this AM was the best we have had in months so it was not the usual sweat-fest to do the tube change. We continued on our way without incident; prayers answered.
Upon arrival at home I decided it was time to strip the essentials from our bikes for the trip. I started with Nace's seat, carefully marking the position on the rails so I could replace it correctly. Then come the pedals. I am not an expert mechanic but do know that there is something funny about the threads on bike pedal stems. One is righty loosy and the other is lefty loosy. I pulled out the trusty bible of bike mechanics, found the correct information and proceeded to attempt to muscle the pedals off. I have seen this done before at the bike shop and had a brief flashback of a couple of guys standing on a rather long wrench which reminded me of the thing we used to pull spikes when I worked for the railroad. I was about to find out how much respect should be given to the nearby, seemingly harmless looking parts of a bike such as the large chainring. After a few minutes of effort with my little Park Tools pedal wrench, all six inches of it, I finally got the right pedal to break free. Unfortunately the momentum of my effort was very soon arrested by the aforementioned chainring. It was at this moment that I wish I had read the very next line in the book on removal of the pedal on this side. It clearly states that you should put the chain on the big outside chainring to keep yourself from shredding your hand on it. Chainring teeth are not unlike shark teeth. I got bit. As I pulled my right hand back I was greeted with a short spurt of blood and then a puddle. I had put a pretty good gash in the fleshy part of my palm just proximal to my thumb. My first thought when I have one of these incidents is to avoid alarming Nace since she is not too keen on the medical stuff. Thirty one years later I still remember picking her off the pavement after our pre marital blood tests. Thus I tried to stem the bleeding and calmly requested that she get her gear together for a trip to RediMedi. Luckily I am familar with this fine local establishment having had a prior visit there for removal of a treble hook from my thumb. Two hours later and proudly showing off ~10 stitches I am safely back at home. I have also made a trip to the bike shop to have the remaining three pedals removed and all the mechaics and I had a good time swapping stories and comparing our scars.
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