mother's day ride

The Excellent Wife (TEW) has been riding a bit, so we agreed to do one together this morning before heading off to the in-laws for Mother's Day. I dusted off the city bike (slide down to the bottom of the post to see it), got out the mirror and the helmet, and otherwise went in my civilian clothes; TEW was in bike garb, which she finds more comfortable than civvies (and apparently not silly enough to avoid!). We did almost 14 miles in a bit over an hour, at a pace that she set, stopping when she wanted to. The most important thing, for me, about this ride, was that she appeared to have fun, and makes noises like she wants to do it again; one of my pet fears was that I'd allow my inner pain-in-the-@&& ride coach to come out and scare her off biking with me forever. And that ride was just about as much as I wanted to do today after beatin' myself up on the "El Capitain" yesterday.

On the way back, she was struggling up a hill; we talked about shifting down to an easier gear, and she tried it. Her chain fell off the inner chainring, and, although we got it back on, it was clear her bike needed some adjustment. She thinks she brought the bike back to the shop for the initial set-in adjustment; if she did, I'm not impressed: the front-derailleur low-gear limit screw was way off, as was the height and orientation of the front derailleur and the rear derailleur tension (it would not shift onto the granny gear at all). It's working now, after some attention with two pliers, a screwdriver, a #5 Allen wrench, and a hammer (don't ask).

After that, we called my mother, who apparently is fitting in at the senior residence to which she's moved; she's found some friends and is getting the gossip on who's who and what's what, and she's turned down the volume on the nagging that we come up and visit. Soon, we'll be off to the in-laws for turkey (and who else do you know who roasts a turkey in May? God bless my mother-in-law) and discussion about the absent relatives, and food to take home for a few days. Here's hoping for decent weather on Wednesday so I can ride with the Old Guys.

Life, as I seem to remember saying before, is good.