bike rack story
So I should say something about our new bike rack! Which first means I need to write about what happened to the old one. It died. In retrospect it was close to 20 years old and a veteran of heavy use, so it could be that I should have been inspecting and monitoring it more carefully. But I wasn’t, so I was surprised as anyone when it suffered a catastrophic failure and dumped our bikes on the road a month or so ago. Happily we were very close to home and on a little, lightly trafficked street; if it had happened on the highway I don't want to imagine the carnage. As it was there was no damage to the bikes and I was able to jury-rig a way to get them home (and if I hadn’t the boys could have ridden them easily enough!). I think one of the straps broke to initiate the collapse, but when it went two of the others let go as well under the strain, and then one of the arms that holds the bike bent so badly it broke off when I tried to straighten it. So that thing’s done.
With Leah’s encouragement we got a big fancy new one to replace it. Unlike the old one, it can hold all four bikes–with a bit of a struggle, sure, but little enough struggle that I’m willing to do it every time rather than try to make room in the car. And it has built-in restraining straps so we don’t have to worry about losing the bikes, as long as the rack stays attached to the trunk. Which I trust it will do for another 20 years or so. Here’s to lots more biking adventures!