Never race your mechanic

Today I tried something truly new. I involved myself in a community social activity that did not involve my students.

I discovered that there is a bicycle riding club that meets at the giant shop several days a week (I was unsure as to just what those days were) and, from there, goes on a spirited 21km ride (which took well under an hour). I found this out when I was having my bike serviced and the group of them rolled in, completing the ride, last week. I was not told what day, as we were having trouble communicating days of the week; however, I gathered that they leave at 6:00pm.

Seeing as Tuesday is my slow day, I left my flat about 5:30pm and rode to the shop. On the way there I noticed that my headlight was loose and wobbling so I pointed this out to the mechanic when I arrived. I then asked about the ride. Keep in mind that this was my first attempt to engage, in an activity, with a group that, simply, does not speak English. I was trying to ask about the group that leaves at six and he was telling me five. It turned out that there were five riders scheduled to go and two of them were not there yet.

We got that straightened out and the others arrived, the mechanic got his bike, and off we went. The pace was spirited and I think that they were all surprised that I was not the slowest (I was also not the fastest). We took a series of back roads that ended up with us crossing the dam at Niawan Lake (the large lake I visited and took a boat to Monkey and Bird Islands). There we met with others and waited for stragglers. From there the front runners, of which I was one, raced into town.

As we approached the university I shouted, "Bye," to them broke out of the pack and headed to a café for dinner. It was after dinner that I noticed something. My brakes were dragging. Not only were they dragging, but they were not fully releasing.

The headlight attaches to the brake mount. It must have been over tightened when he adjusted the headlight. My brakes had to have been dragging the entire time. That being the case, I figure that next week I will be a lot closer to the front…