On the road again, sorta

This past Saturday I went for a bike ride with E. It's been well over a year, if not two, since I've ridden a bike. Yes, I am rather embarrassed to admit that. I have a new bike. I won it in a raffle Lou had when he won top fundraiser status at the Ann Arbor EcoRide. C put it together for me, even though I said I didn't think it was good idea (seeing how he'd never done it before). Saturday was the first day I've ever ridden it.

It was a perfect day for a ride. I'm painfully out of shape, something my thighs screamed at me as I struggled up and over the second overpass. But the day was clear and warm, with a slight breeze, and it really did feel good to be outside. We found a trail that E hadn't been on before, so that was nice since it was a bit of an adventure for both of us.

All was going well until we found ourselves near Great America Parkway. My pedal started to feel kind of funny. I figured it was the sole of my shoe sliding on it, so I kept going. About 10 minutes later, the pedal fell off. Yes, that's right. The petal fell off the bike. It would seem that C, in his infinite wisdom, double threaded the pedal. The entire inside of the crank is stripped. Little metal shavings all over. Grrrrrrrrr.

Now, E admitted that it is something that is easy to do if you don't know what you are doing. What annoys me the most is that I kept saying to C that I was more than happy to take it to a bike shop. That he should ask E for help. That I knew one could ruin the pedals if they weren't put on properly. Of course, he didn't listen to me. What did I know?

Luckily, E has an extra crank that he thinks will fit my bike. He's going to work on it this week for me. It's just frustrating. Yes, I've been putting off riding with a number of excuses for a long time now. But I got myself to the point where I was getting gung-ho about it. And now I have to wait. *sigh* At least it is a (somewhat) easy repair.