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Old October 19th 14, 06:12 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Joy Beeson
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Posts: 1,638
Default AG: Look out for the leaves


Autumn's leaves can be as slippery as winter's ice. Even when the
pavement is dry, leaf-on-leaf doesn't have a very high coefficient of
friction, and when there's a layer of slimy rotten leaves hiding under
the dry fluffy leaves, you haven't got a chance.


As dramatic as it would be to say that the incident on the boardwalk
last November was the reason that the rides long enough to record in
my diary at
http://joybeeson.home.comcast.net/~joybeeson/CENT2014/
didn't start until August[1], there were other factors: the weather
turned nasty just as rehab had begun, the winter's supply of snow was
doled out to keep the roads slick almost every day, and in March I
slipped on snow I'd tracked into the kitchen, twisted my knee, and had
to ride a flatfoot instead of walking well into spring.

I heartily recommend the flatfoot/comfort/step-through/semi-recumbent
bike for rehab, by the way -- it allows you to exercise a leg without
putting weight on it, and you can't strain muscles because it won't
allow you to push the pedals with anything resembling force. Though I
did once instinctively pull back on the handlebars until I almost rose
in the saddle when I wanted to charge the transition from sod road to
asphalt, and it worked.

But you do have to be able to walk at least a little before you can
ride, and if there is an upslope along your route you have to be able
to walk at least that far -- but a flatfoot is an excellent wheeled
cane.


[1] The reports start in September because the routes of the warm-up
rides in August were boring. Also, September was when I got the idea
of writing up my quarter centuries.


--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://joybeeson.home.comcast.net/
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.

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