Pat Rides My Bike

During these cold days of January I am choosing to post a short video I took during Pat's visit here (Delaware) last spring.

I have a bike. I brought the bike from a neighbor who said he can no longer ride his bike because he has prostate problems. I haven't ridden a bike since the 70's.  I yearned to ride a bike again.

After paying $100 for my neighbor's bike I put another $100 or so to clean up the bike. Then I rode it. 

The seat was too high. I tried to lower it but couldn't. So I adjusted myself to riding a high seat bike. No wonder my neighbor had prostate problems. I don't have such problems since my prostate cancer treatment. I still have my prostate but it's been radiated to death. It doesn't work now. It's just there. Sorry to get icky here but just stating a fact.

My second ride I promptly fell off my bike and injured my leg. I bruised the bone. First time I ever did that. Took months to heal.  

I still ride my bike occasionally but only through my development here where Bill and I live. 

Pat rides his bike in his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada a LOT more than I do.  He rides all over.  I am restricted to where I can ride my bike. I tried riding it out on Oyster Rocks Road but since falling, I'm shaky about riding my bike with vehicles whizzing by me, especially those pick up trucks from hunters and fishermen racing to the end of Oyster Rocks Road to the Broadkill River.

During Pat's annual visit last spring to Casa Tipton-Kelly, I asked him if he wanted to take a ride on my bike. This is the video. Seats too high for him too.

Bicycle Challenges

Hey folks! Remember when I got a bike a few months ago?  

I saw an ad by one of my neighbors who was selling his bike.  I haven't ridden a bike in over thirty years. But I yearned to ride a bike again. Of course I knew I was taking a chance, being the Old Guy that I am now.  This November I'll be 75 years of age.  No two ways about it, that's OLD.  

So it was with some trepidation that I checked out this bike for sale and decided to buy it.  

Remember the video I posted of me taking the bike for a trial run?  I was a little wobbly but I quickly balanced myself and made a successful run.  

I bought the bike and had it completely overhauled.  Then I began riding it through my development.  

I often rode my bike daily.  Occasionally I have venture out of my development and ride down Oyster Rocks Road to the Broadkill River.  Once such time my bike slipped on the gravel as I was making a turn and I fell to the ground, injuring my right leg and getting bloody scrapes on my left left, hand and arm.  The bruise on my right leg bone is still healing.  Lesson learned, I'm now more careful when I ride my bike on loose gravel.

A few days ago I took my bike out for an evening ride through my development.  I notice that I had a harder time peddling my bike.  What was happening?  Were my legs getting weaker like my friend Larry, who is experiencing that problem during his daily walk?  

I began to ride less and less.  The fun was out of riding my bike.  Then a thought occurred to me.  Were my bike tires soft? 
I checked and viola!  They were soft.  

Now to figure out how much pressure the tires should be?  How to find this out.  Life is not easy these days is it folks?  Always seems to be hurdles and obstacles for the simplest of tasks.

I figured out where to find the amount of bike tire pressure.  The amount is embedded on the tires, 40 to 60 pounds.  I asked Bill to check how much pressure my bike tires had (Bill takes care of this kind of thing around Casa Tipton-Kelly).  He checked and guess what?  My tires only had 12 pounds of pressure!  No wonder I was riding my bike like jogging through sand with combat boots (which I did when I was in the Army).  A lot of effort and not much progress and definitely not fun.  

Bill pulled out our air pump and put 60 pounds of air pressure in my bicycle tires.  I took my bike out for a spin and guess what? 
The fun is back!  

Just another day In The Life of Old Man Riding a Bike.