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Crappy ride.

Old 05-06-02, 08:25 AM
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Crappy ride.

Went for my usual ride on Friday. Got about 8 miles out of town and the chain came off of the front rings. (I ride a Vision R40 recumbent.) This kind of thing is common on a 'bent every now and then. Stop put the chain back on, no big deal. Then I hear a horrible rubbing noise coming from my chain. Stop again and look at it and one of the guide pulleys is loose which caused the chain to "jump" off and literally cross itself. Put the chain back in place then tried to tighten the guide pulley bolt, but multi-tool did not have a wrench large enough.

Called wife on cell phone to come rescue me. (I'm 8.5 miles away from home on a county highway.) It is really windy and I am near some high voltage powerlines. Have a heck of a time getting through to wife. After calling her 7 times she finally is able to piece together where i am and comes to get me. (Although I did tell her what route I was taking.) Should only have taken 3 times due to the wind and powerlines, not 7.

So all in all I had a crappy ride, instead of riding the 26 miles I wanted to I rode less then half. Had bad rides before but this is one of the worst. I know well enought that this is all part of the great sport of cycling.

I'm sure the rest of us have had bad rides. So please do tell about yours, either due to mechanical failure, like mine on Friday or other reasons.

And also offer each toher words of encouragement too while were at it.

Thanks for letting me vent this.
 
Old 05-06-02, 08:39 AM
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There are no bad rides, some are just better learing experiences than others, now you know about another thing you need to maintenance and check before a ride. I have a policy, never, never call the wife, she will never let you forget it. I will carry my bike through the worst new england blizzard before I call the wife. Remember this, No matter what happens to you, "things could always be worst"
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Old 05-06-02, 08:53 AM
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I too have learnt to accept as karmic destiny that my bike will sometimes tell me to stop and enjoy the view for a while.
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Old 05-06-02, 09:11 AM
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Well put Michael
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Old 05-06-02, 10:37 AM
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i kind of agree more that there are no bad rides from mechanical problems (unless you crash or get hit) and mechanical stuff is just a learning experience...

about 4-5 years ago in central Oregon i had just reached the turn-around point for my long trail ride when my chain broke. i had no chain tool and was all alone and about 15 miles of hilly single-track from the car... i took the chain off and rode the downhills and walked the hills and scooter-pushed the flats for about 3 hours!!!

now i ALWAYS have a chain tool!

i have yet to have any 'unridables' since then... in 5-10k miles per year... bent rims, flat tires, broken spokes, broken deraileur, etc. - ok wait, i broke my fork a few years back b/c my quick-release wan't tight (i presume, don't know how/why) and i bunny-hopped a curb and landed w/o a front wheel on the fork... amazingly i landed safely in the grass but i had been riding 30 minutes in heavy traffic!
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Old 05-06-02, 08:21 PM
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My worst rides have been of the cold and wet variety. Once caught in a tornado... well some were in the vacinity, anyway.. didn't actually see one... totally drenched & cold, miles from nowhere, sirens going. Finally made it to a town, waited out the storm in a restaurant (air conditioned--BRRRRRR). They gave me free pie! Interestingly, the worst trips always seem to make the best stories. (Oh yeah there was the time I hit a bump in the trail and went flying head first into a swamp. Covered with mud from head to toe. Looked like "Dawn of the Dead." Later, taking a shower.... well, lets just say you'd be amazed at all the places mud can get into.)
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Old 05-06-02, 08:53 PM
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That's more than I needed to know. I heard that George Hincapie fell into s*** when he took a header at Roubaix. Yuuuuk! Now that's a bad ride.
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Old 05-07-02, 12:58 PM
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my worst ride landed me naked infront of my collegues! I did an amazing endo, then proceeded to slide (with my bike still attached due to clipless pedals) down this huge boulder infested hill. Needless to say they had to airlift me out of the park that day. Ironicly i work for a shock trauma unit and i have taken care of many of my fellow mt. bikers in my day. This time it was me, not fun at all! So there i was with a broken nose, broken tailbone, fractured rib, and a dislocated shoulder. The fun part is when you arrive at the hospital they cut all your clothes off. I was consience at the time, and I begged them not to ruin my nice new OAKLEY mtb shorts! It didn't help that i knew all the docs and nurses that were there standing over me. My shorts weren't the only thing that got ruined, lost my bike that day too. But needless to say, I had the best care possible and was back on my NEW bike in 6 months!
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Old 05-07-02, 04:57 PM
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Holy s***- I'll never complain about road rash again. I guess you expect to do an endo now and then, but it sounds like you're lucky it wasn't worse! It sounds like something from Emergency!

I guess one of my crap rides was when I crashed into my cycling buddy- the sun was in my eyes and I didn't see him slowing down and WHUMPPP! Neither one of us was more than bruised but his wheel was all shmungled and I felt terrible and was practically bawling about how it was my fault, etc. I felt like a total moron. Also, it was kind of cold that day and when we stopped I began to get cold. We ended up having to take a cab home with our bikes. He had to get a new wheel. It really sucked. To this day I still feel like an idiot when I think about it. It ended up being a really sucky ride.
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Old 05-07-02, 05:38 PM
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I think you could tow a tool box behind you and something will still happen that ya can't fix,ya know it? Something breaking on the bike is alot better than something breakin on me for sure!
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Old 05-08-02, 04:21 AM
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If I have a mechanical breakdown, it's always halfway from home and work, when I've chosen the most rural route, without a phone box for miles...


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