Saturday, September 7, 2013

New wheels for Mrs. ERJ

Mrs ERJ's new wheels
I have this fantasy where I will go for a run and Mrs ERJ will tag along, riding her bike.  She will keep me company.  I will mostly listen.  She will get some exercise and have enough breath left over to share the events of her day.  Maybe she will have a picnic basket.

I took her bike shopping.  We went to several places.  Her eyes lit up when she saw this bike.  "YES!"

She can sit up straight because the handlebars are swept back.  The tires are big and puffy to absorb bumps.  It has a fender to eliminate that embarrassing stripe down the back. The seat is amply padded.  It has a simple shift mechanism.

Mrs ERJ wants panniers or dual baskets for the back.  I think that is a dandy idea.  She can carry the sports drinks and the picnic basket.

We took her new bike for a shake-down run.  I tweaked a hand-me-up from Kubota.  It is a bike he rode into the swimmin' pond.  I had to pull the seaweed out of the spokes, reinflate the tires and raise the seat and squirt a serious amount of lube into all the nooks and crannies.  I used chainsaw bar oil diluted with some of the paint thinner I used to clean my reloading brass.  That bike should go like a bullet.

We went two miles.  Two miles was plenty for our shake-down.  We had a few hills and we got to negotiate a plan for when there is traffic.  I thought I should be in back because I can catch up more easily.  She thought she should be in back because....because.

Our discussion did not go quite like this.  But I thought this was a funny video and wanted to wedge it into this post.


To be continued.

And then I went on a run.  Here is a picture of my turn-around point.  I slap the flag pole to make it official.
Eaton Township hall
It is 4.5 miles from my house.  This is the third time this week I made this run.  I think I need to back off on the miles I am running.  It is really starting to beat me up.

I took a shower when I came home.  Ate lunch.  Then slept like I had been struck by lightening.

Just another day in paradise.

P.S.  Those of you who have Mrs ERJ's private phone number might want to send her a text congratulating her on the new wheels.  There is no need to mention "the nail in the head."

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