Originally Posted by indyfabz

Vienna, OH to Philly ended up being an unmitigated disaster which I was rescued from after only three days of riding. I got rained on literally every minute I was on the bike, and it rained nearly all of the time I was not riding. It was a cold rain that was blowing right at me. One day the high was only 55. I forgot to pack my rain pants, and my rain jacket failed, which was my fault. I didn't realize that you need to periodically treat even Showers Pass jackets. My FD began to get sticky from all-day rain and being in warm motel rooms at night. On Day 3 I simply left things in the small chainring. Couldn't bomb descents anyway as there was usually a lot of water and debris. I finally made it to DuBois, PA and got a cheap motel room. Another looming factor was that, at the time, the forecast was still for the SE part of PA to get the remnants of Florence at the end of the week, which would have put them right over where I had planned to be.

After exploring other options for getting home to Philly, an old friend from the 'hood--the guy who actually got me into riding as an adult--drove 4.5 hrs. to pick me up the next day, then 3 hrs. to his country place (it poured at points during the drive) then home the next day. When I got home I lubed the FD with WD-40 and let it soak in. Went to shift it and all but a few strands of the cable snapped.

Pro Tip of the day: When you line your clothing to try to keep warm, don't use the circulars.