No brakes

I rode my old racer yesterday as my newer one was elsewhere to yours truly and the consequence of its long lay off was to try and kill its pilot at the first junction. As I enthusiastically tugged the brake levers to apprehend forward motion the bike had other ideas leading to a very close encounter with a lorry load of tarmac. As it did not kill me the bike then sulked and refused to change gear which made for a tough ride considering the local terrain.