NO BRAKES on an Eagle!!

Got on the road a wee bit later today, at 6:30 AM, as I rode with my best friend, and NBG Board Member, Faye Saunders to her work at Apple Computer, a distance of almost 12 miles away. I've ridden with her to her job before so she was able to judge the performance difference between the two HiWheel bikes I ride. And the Eagle is a LOT faster. She observed that she no longer could dawdle along, some times ride the brakes or at other times coast. She admitted that she had to work a little bit. WoW!!

I keep forgetting to mention that when I awaken, I don't splash cold water on my face or eat anything. I do this because there will be times when water is hard to come by and I cannot let myself expect such luxury before I head off. As for food, I don't eat as a way to give myself a reward for getting as many miles in my legs as I can before the traffic and sun slow me down this soon upcoming summer.

Today I made my first cell phone call off the Eagle when Faye and I got separated from each other for a short while . I am also getting more and more comfortable drinking from the water bottle I carry at my side in my butt pak. And the photo you see that opens this post is of me coasting down a small hill with my legs crossed. In front of the tire and over the steer tube. Faye took it with the professional grade camera she is learning to use.

All I could see was progress. Until I got to Apple. As I pulled up and used the brake to help me with a pedal dismount, the top of the brake lever snapped apart. The top one inch of it shot across the cement and into the ground cover. 15 minutes later, I found it. I also realized that I had to ride home with NO BRAKES!

Because my other HiWheels do not have brakes, I knew I could stop and/or slow down easy enough by back pedaling. However on the Eagle, there is no step to jump on with a smaller real wheel I could then apply foot pressure to if an emergency stop was warranted. I really did have NO BRAKES - whoaaaaa......

But I made it home without any trouble.

THX for tuning in!!

btw: Dave Hershberger of Unwheeldy fame, sez he will weld the broken lever back together for me. Between him and Woodenbikes, Tom Kabat, the two of them have kept me on the the HiWheel road for almost six years now here in Palo Alto