Well, very little, if any, but I certainly did shed a minimal amount this morning. I am now in the habit of, after walking Jules and clearing his efforts in the garden, doing the circuit of our 2 hills and long downward stretch on the trike before venturing to the pond.
The entry to our shared drive, rocky and loose, also in between the 2 hills and thus with an uneven, but distinct, camber, requires a very special way of re-entry with any vehicle but especially with the trike. Normally I attack it as fast as I can to maintain momentum in order to lean outboard like a racing sidecar passenger. Taking a line slightly to the left (downhill) of centre I pass close to the neighbourâs car to a point slightly above our gateway and then do a screaming big Uie to descend a bit and veer left into our entrance. I must keep pedalling in order to maintain assistance from the electric motor on the front hub. But also I need to keep weight on both that wheel to maintain grip on the loose surface and the RH (uphill) rear wheel which is the only one driven by the pedals, all the while leaning horizontally into the slope.
This morning I failed. Experimenting with a different route, to the right and up hill of the centre line, I tried to make a direct arrival at the gateway. The last bit was too steep and I needed to put extra effort onto the pedals at the expense of leaning into the gradient. And over I went. It is not easy, once I realise that I am going over, to place my left foot outside of the trike to support myself and so landed on my side, then rolled onto my back while hoping that the machine would not follow over on top of me. It didnât. My loud expletive was not heard, fortunately because if our neighbours had come running they would have made far more fuss than was warranted on seeing a 79 year old in such a situation and probably called the Pompiers.
I picked myself and the trike up and checked both for damage. 2 grazes on my left leg and under each forearm, a small drop of blood on one hand but, worst of all, the small rear view mirror had popped off its ball and socket location. And even worse than that, even with the help of soap I couldnât pop it back on again afterwards. Fearful of breaking the glass, and lacerating my hand even more, I had to give up. I will not feel safe till I have managed it, or fitted a new replacement from the bike shop.
Such a lovely day though and I consoled myself with a 56 metre swim in the pond. 16c in the water, and 26c in the shaded air. Heaven.
Baby brother of three/four-ish. Wet day. Weâre on the veranda to stay out of the rain. Chest of drawers at the end. I lean a narrow single plank against the chest to form a steep slope and suggest my small brother cycle his trike up it. Only the front wheel fitted on the plank. Needless to say he didnât manage it. I donât think he did himself major damage
On my bike aged 13ish, no brakes, going downhill, had to turn right to avoid catastrophe, hit kerb, over handlebars, smacked into tarmac, chipped tooth only and still got the tooth
A mixture of sympathy and dig there I reckon, the latter akin to âwhat the hell is an old geezer like you doing on a kidâs trikeâ.
You could have a point though, bikes are much more stable than trikes simply because they can be thrown around more and leant over. Even when falling they are easier to jump clear of I think. I did not choose it for stability though, thinking I might one day sell one of the cars, and if the other one was off the road, at least with the trike in reserve with its large paniers front and rear we wouldnât be reliant on others for shopping etc. I can, and have done, a weekâs shop with one trip on the trike.
Got back from my afternoon circuit a short time ago and, trying too hard to pick a better line bugger me if I nearly did it again. Very hot here now and I was soon into the pond again, absolutely what the doctor ordered, 17c and I did 126 metres. Came back into the room here and I notice a triathlon going on on the telly and it struck me thatâs what I do every morning, walk, cycle and swim. And in the afternoon siesta, cycle and swim. Turning into a right chunky little athlete, me.
Edit: The French girl has just won, even after having to stand still for a 10 second penalty with the others pounding up behind.
My experience of âtwo wheels bad, three wheels lethalâ comes from dirt bikes and ATV trikes.
Ride a dirt bike for any length of time and you learn to stop the bike falling into a turn by kicking it back upright using your inside foot (wearing an armoured motocross boot). Bad habit for a trike as the huge rear tyre grabs the boot you stick out and pulls you off the trike at speed.
So many people got seriously hurt and killed on trikes that they were banned some years back. Quads are much safer, but they have the same problem as proper off-road 4x4s as you get them stuck/crash them in much less accessible spots deep in the woods.
That is me wonderful old friends wedding last weekend in the Aude and for once I was dancing. On a cobblestone floor, in wedge heels! I went over on my ankle and have significant damage to ligaments. Iâm in an aircast and crutches for 3 weeks, no work, no driving . No tennis for 6 weeks, so will miss our tournament too!
On the farm as a kid I had a Honda 70 trike. I must have been about 10 and coming down the driveway after school (it was over a km long and up a big hill so we rode to the bus) I rolled it on a lump / sand, took off all the skin on one chin, uniform in tatters! Was much more careful after that but was happy to move onto my 125 2 wheeler a year or so later!
Wow Tory, that looks nasty and pales my upset into very minor by comparison. I hope the swelling, and the pain, soon goes down.
BTW did you mean âshinâ not âchinâ?
Quick edit to my own post too, 126 metres in the pond was for the day, 56 this morning and 70 in the afternoon.
oh my god hubby and I are in stitches, I properly have that stitch from laughing too much! You are right it totally looks like a hairy arse ! It is actually Hubbyâs legs crossed and up on the Ottoman!
Agree, was feeling great as lost 7.5 kg since September but me ankle is just gross
A mixture of sympathy and dig there I reckon, the latter akin to âwhat the hell is an old geezer like you doing on a kidâs trikeâ. 
wonderful old friends wedding last weekend in the Aude and for once I was dancing. On a cobblestone floor, in wedge heels! I went over on my ankle and have significant damage to ligaments. Iâm in an aircast and crutches for 3 weeks, no work, no driving 
