break my brake, why don’t you..
I locked my bike up outside Jumbo today to do a little shopping only to find when I returned that someone had broken the rear brake. The brake handle had actually been snapped off and not in a way that can be fixed. I doubt I’ll be able to find a new brake anywhere as there aren’t any specialist bike shops that I know of in La Romana.
The front brake still works, although not very well, but this isn’t ideal because in the event where I have to brake hard I will do one of two things: not stop in time or topple over the front of the bike and fly into the on-coming vehicle.
Damn those vandals!
Charly said,
October 13, 2006 at 9:07 am
I had a dream… and it occurred to me that you might swap the cables of the brakes so that your one good lever operates the back brake rather than the front.
Send me a photo and I’ll see if I’ve got anything similar in my box of bike bits. Daddy will mend it (if at all possible
Granny and Grandpa said,
October 14, 2006 at 7:03 pm
We keep enjoying all your storiies, and quite envy you – not like it was in my day!!!
Keep enjoying life and we will keep thinking of you Dan.
Love,
Gpa.
Charly said,
October 15, 2006 at 12:48 pm
Sorry, no spare brake levers here. Probably on the Sterrebeek dump.
dominicanjournal said,
October 15, 2006 at 11:14 pm
Hi Granny and Grandpa. Good to hear from you and good to know you’re keeping up with my progress.
As for your idea, Dad, it seems we had the same dream because it had also occured to me to swap the cables round (great minds think alike.) but haven’t been able to due to a lack of tools. Philippe gave me a couple of cross-headed screwdrivers but I’m still looking for an Allen key.
dominicanjournal said,
October 16, 2006 at 11:28 pm
The good news is I’ve swapped the brake cable round. The bad news is that a little spring fell out and I can’t put it back in, which means when I pull the break it doesn’t retract (hand brake style).
Also, I’ve noticed that the rear wheel isn’t screwed on tightly enough, causing it to wobble when I ride. Looks like I’m going to have to buy myself a whole toolkit before I ride this baby anymore…