Oh, what a day. Friday’s ride went so well that though I was a bit anxious about going solo, I was mostly excited about starting this venture. I rode Sofie up to school and got the most classic look from the traffic volunteer. He was directing the cars and all the sudden I appear and he just kind of froze. Then he gave a big laugh and directed me along just like everybody else. It was priceless.

All was going well and I tried out a new strategy for turning off Alafaya onto Research Parkway. Instead of turning right on red, I immediately pulled over into a parking lot at the corner. I let the huge throng of cars turning left go by, waited another few seconds for the cars turning right on red, and then entered the road. It was awesome! By doing this, I was able to ride on a practically empty road! It was a very Zen realization for me – taking a moment to stop instead of racing to get to work. It worked like a charm until some guy in a truck rode up on me and tailed me closely for about a .25 mile. He then yelled at me to get on the sidewalk and turned into his office building. There were absolutely zero other cars on the road, mind you! He could have easily moved into the other lane and passed me, but instead he chose to fume behind me.

After this, I was feeling pretty stressed out about riding home. I don’t know why, but I had really let that guy get under my skin and was absolutely dreading getting back on Research Parkway. I kept staring out my office window, watching the cars rip by and feeling sick. Unfortunately, Jesse had class so there was no time to chance taking the bus and having my bike not fit. I had to ride.

I got out on the road and noticed my gears were acting very funky. I thought maybe I had changed gears too roughly and kept riding. I got to the first stoplight and waited. As the light changed and I tried to go, my bike wouldn’t budge! It was an absolutely frightful moment – stuck in the road and unable to move with a huge line of cars behind me. I dragged my bike to the side of the road and tried to figure out what had happened.

My rear tire had come off!! We still don’t know what happened, but the lever had clearly been lifted and then it must have loosened during my ride. My stomach still sinks just thinking about it. Even though it was likely a freak occurrence, it was a big lesson learned for me that I need to check my bike out more carefully before I ride. Unfortunately, when the tire came off it moved my rear brake. I had neither the tools nor the know-how to do anything about it, so Jesse had to come out and rescue me. Another lesson learned – start figuring out how to fix my bike. Luckily Jesse had to come out there for class anyways, but it was still frustrating. He readjusted the brake and decided to ride my bike home after class.  We still have yet to come up with a good plan for the nights he has class.

This isn’t called “adventures in car-light living” for nothing!