Bike ride!

Coolish day here in PV but sunny, about 19 degrees to start. Went for bike ride with Panko and (his daughter) Linda from the hotel and out along the main road south to Mismaloya and back. Hilly but even with all the tourist hotels it's a spectacularly scenic stretch of road. Had a bit of excitement on the way back - I hit a pothole (road is a bit rough and I couldn't dodge the pothole because there happened to be traffic passing me at that moment) at speed on a downhill. My handlebar bag sheared off, fell onto the road right in front of the front wheel. Took some serious braking not to hit it as it bounced down the road. I thought it must have just bounced out of the attachment on the bike but no, the rivets holding the back plate (which slides into slots attached to the handlebar) had all sheared, leaving the back plate in the holder. Cheap rivets!

To fix it I went into a backstreet hardware store to buy some nuts and bolts (rather than more skinny little rivets!). - a staff person at the counter got the nuts bolts washer spacers then did the repair for me! I was going to find a leather craftsman (plenty of those in PV) to punch the holes etc but the hardware guy did it! Took about half an hour, a bit tricky! Afterwards I asked him how much I owed him (for everything) and he said "oh just give me enough for a Coke". $2 buys a big one!

After the ride and a cup of coffee I did a thorough check of the bike, no apparent ill effects from that pothole or my dubious bike assembly skills post flight yesterday. Then off to the pool and ocean for the afternoon to burn off all that exercise. Oh, and a cheeseburger with jalapeno peppers, delicious!

PS bike was pretty intact coming off the plane yesterday. Even in the soft case, padded some with clothes. 1 scrape on the frame and bent dropout adjustment screws. Am writing this to remind myself so I pack it with those bits better protected next time. On the other hand Panko, Aggie (Panko's wife) and Linda had their bikes boxed and Aggie's bike showed up with the box demolished and the front wheel bent. Linda's arrived a day later than she did.