Bad timing happens.

Take yesterday evening. I had an appointment for a COVID-19 test; it\’s part of the protocol for working on-site part of the time. I rode my hybrid there; and on the way, the struts (or whatever you call them) holding the front fender in position suddenly popped loose!

I got them back into place, but discovered that the front brakes were knocked a bit out of line. This of course caused brake rub, and made pedaling noticeably harder; and I couldn\’t get those brakes back in line.

I decided to take the bike to the shop at lunchtime today to see about the brake problem; and last night I suddenly remembered that I needed to measure the chain. When I did, I found that it was overdue for replacement.

This morning I called the bike shop to be sure of their business hours. They said they were open until 2 pm, and off I went.

It\’s a good thing I did go today. The shop will be closed all next week because they need to catch up on all the repairs; and if I had the hybrid at home, I wouldn\’t want to use it. I don\’t want to wear out the brake pads, and a worn chain is bad for the gears.

Why is this bad timing? I want to go to the salvage store tomorrow. \”Katy\” has always been my go-to bicycle for that. But I tried putting the trailer hitch on my road bike, and it seems to fit!

This is also unfortunate timing from the Cycle September point of view. Of course I can do a few extra miles on the road bike to compensate for the hybrid being out of commission; but I\’d rather ride to work than walk!