The Bike Ride That Wasn’t Meant To Be

A couple of weeks back, we went away for the weekend to celebrate my in-laws 40th wedding anniversary.  The place we went was a resort-type hotel right on Lake Erie and as one of their amenities they had quite a few bike trails in the area.  As I’ve said in previous posts, we really enjoy taking the kids on bike rides, but this one required quite a bit of preparation as we were going to be on the road:

1. Get the bike rack out of the garage and mounted to the the back of the truck.
2. Get the boy’s trailer into the back of the truck.
3. Get the bikes (x2) mounted onto the rack.
4. Lock the bikes to the rack.
5. Lock the rack to the truck.

Just 5 simple steps, but believe me its harder than it seems.  So, we make our way up to the resort and have a wonderful lunch with everyone and spend some time at the pool.  The G-man did some macking on a MUCH older woman (incident to be discussed in another post) and afterword we all went back to the room to shower and relax.  Mom took a look at the weather forecast and realized that today might be our only possibility for a bike ride.  So, fresh-from-the-shower Super Dad heads out to the car to get things ready.

1. Unlock the rack from the truck.
2. Unlock the bikes from the rack.
3. Remove the bikes.
4. Set up the boy’s trailer.
5. Hook the trailer to the back of the bike.
6. Load C into the trailer.
7. Load G into the trailer.
8. Put on the boys seat belts.

At this point the shower is completely pointless as I’m sweating bullets.  But I figure it’s a good thing cause we’re ready for our family bike ride and we were going to have a great time biking along Lake Erie. Of course, before we set off we went through a cycle safety guide from Intelligent Car Leasing with C and G and that was it, we were ready!  Mom took off and I pulled out to follow.  I pushed off and ping!!!  Next thing I know, I’m looking at a broken bicycle chain laying on the ground.  FUCK.  One pedal and that was all she wrote.  Sooooo…

1. Unhook seat belts.
2. Get G out of the trailer.
3. Get C out of the trailer.
4. Get the boy’s trailer into the back of the truck.
5. Get the bikes (x2) mounted onto the rack.
6. Lock the bikes to the rack.
7. Lock the rack to the truck.

Oh yeah… don’t forget now I’ve got to take another shower in time for dinner.  At least the chain didn’t break when we were two miles out on our ride.