takingcontrol

Things went wrong.
Setting the seen, beautiful day, mid 70's slight headwind. The ride is called summer surprise ride......extra on the surprise!! it is a 27 and change mile ride that is hosted by the local bicycling club. The ride started very nice, riding thorough downtown Salem into Keizer and a couple other towns in the nearby area. First off, I am not the fastest rider, so I was towards the back of the 11 or so people in this ride. About 4 miles in, One guy that I was riding next to broke a spoke (he was a small clyde ) and had to turn back I said that sucked and has he ever thought about switching to a 36 count rim? BecauseI have never had a problem..... see where this is headed, Just wait it gets better. So at this point the only two people there are me and the ride leader (nice of him to stay in the back) So me, in all my wisdom and three whole months of riding experience decide to try and catch up with the others.....Off I go I actually hit 17-18mph for a bit....pedaling no hills needless to say I didn't catch them (a truly experienced rider probably would have known this before expending all that effort....who knew ) So now here I am In between the front of the pack and tail end charlie (the group leader) By myself... did I mention that this ride has forty,(40) turns. Yep you read it right, now I swear that there wasn't a sign that said 74th Ave ( there was one that said 72nd but I was following the map) I knew I missed a turn when I ran into 75th (actually the street I was on changed its name) Hmm look at the map, OK I see a way back approx 4 miles extra no problem, until I get to the gravel road ( have I mentioned that I have a comfort commuter style bike, not a XC) No worry's, I get back on route and am cruising along about 20 miles in and I hear this (yes here it comes) Ping. Lets recap 10 miles from truck don't really know where I am....behind the ride organizer (that little 4 mile detour I made) alone. hmm what to do, now I could call someone but... I really wanted to finish this ride Plus it would be cooler riding then waiting and who knows how long I would have to wait. So I called the ride leader and leave him a message and continue the ride (tip, the more your rim goes out of true the more brake is "applied" ) long story shorter I made it to the truck, one of the guys came back for me about 3 miles from the start point (nice guy ) And ....31 miles so all in all a great ride

P.S. at the end with me off the bike my wheel will spin approx 8 inch's before coming to a complete stop I want my broke spoke certificate

DelusionalDude

Tip: If you bringing up the rear and someone is nice enough to stay with you, don't try to ride away from them. If you want to up the pace, tell tehm and they will probably work with you to do it. And not let you get lost.

timmythology

All in all it sounds like a fun day
Glad to hear you made it back safely. +1 to you for knowing you had a broken spoke, I did a 40 miler at the coast wondering what was wrong with my bike to find out it was a broken spoke at the lbs the following day. -1 for dropping your guardian angel though

takingcontrol

OK I get it, I swear he wasn't that far behind me when I made the wrong turn ( like 500 feet) And once I figured out I made a wrong turn I waited a bit to see if he followed me.

timmythology

Just chalk it as a learning experience