Went on my first road ride of the year today..
 

OK this actually happened just a little while back but its worth sharing i think.

It was indeed my first road ride in quite some time unfortunately.

I was driving home from a flea market saturday afternoon and my car made an AWFUL noise, lurched and bucked for a moment or two and then stopped and died. never to move again, My timing chain had snapped... engine toast.

i got towed to the nearest junkyard, collected a couple bucks and pulled out my trusty cell phone, which turned out not so trusty as it died after reaching two of my friends answering machines.

I knew it was a good 40 minute drive from where i was. Turns out it was 26 miles. I wasn't about to start walking. Then i remembered I had a bike in my car, So i went and retrieved it.

The saddle was loose but I wasnt about to complain. I had transportation.

On I hopped and away i went.

Ready for the kicker and what makes this story worth telling? Scroll down to see my "life-saver" of a road machine.

























26 miles with a loose plastic seat on a 1983 Columbia ProAm bmx bike.
I think the top tube is about 18" long and the cranks are about 150mm. Whew!

Makes for a good story though!

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...21310_0001.jpg

Nice! You rode it on the sidewalk like all those other hoodlums didn't you?

There was everything from alleyways to highways on the journey. I even popped a wheelie for a streeside heckler.

You need to ride more! :lol:

That saddle sure looks funny on there. But at least you weren't walking. Sorry about the engine though. That stinketh.

Don't we all!?

Funny story, sorry about the car. I hope the engine isn't an interference type. You can simply install a new timing belt and it's good to go, otherwise, all the valves and seats are damaged.

Why trudge, when you can ride a Rudge?

(Not sure if that was their slogan, but has anyone seen the Rudge chainwheel with the hand emblem? Very zen.)

I should throw a little BMX in my car too. Was it a fluke? Is it your bike? Bet you pampered it when you got home!

Walking is for chumps.

26 miles on that thing!? amazing. I''m afraid that the car I drive in most of the time can't really fit a bike in the back.. European Ford KA, first gen.

My last car went the same way many years ago, but I ran home at 3am.

how big are the wheels on that, 18 inch?

20" wheels

I just happened to have the bike in my car for transport home from my shop a day or two before and never bothered to take it out...

the seat was goofy and loose because the one it came with (why i bought the bike in the first place) was a perfect Kashimax MX that I robbed mercilessly, i had that one in a box so i tossed it on there... just because. good thing, would have been much worse riding with no seat at all. :twitchy:

Hey, thanks for the clue on where to find Kashima saddles