Shoes and tires and fenders, oh my!

Welp, I realized this is cycling - related so it doesn't really belong in the OT thread...

I'm "riding early" again this a.m., hoping for time for a sprint around campus. I'm wearing my Professional Waterfall Climber Shoes which you can just mash the heel down on and wear like clogs.

This is a bad idea.

The chain does one of those little jumps it sometimes does in number four... and because I haven't put the toe clipsback on yet, the foot slides forward... and ... oh, I have big feet.

My toes nudge my spokes and the spokes seize the shoe and suck it right off my foot and sail it right around and it snags the fender along the way.
There was definitely one of those extended "Oh, this is not right. We are going to do a face plant." moments when I realized the wheel Was COming To An Abrupt Stop, and I Assumed the "look up and spread out your arms!" position as one does before landing in the swimming pool with goggles(so they don't fall off), and smack that pavement nicely.

I'm lookin' around but there were no witnesses. I gather myself and get up and stand the bike up and heft it to the parking lane and pick up the bungie cords that fell out.
Then I"m standin' there in front of Holy Cross Church in a shoe and a sock, lookin' like a wayward soul... wanting to put my danged shoe back on... but it's wedged in there so tight I can't get it out. And the fender is all wrapped up in there, too.
But I'm OK. And out of traffic. Which there isn't any of at all. So then I figure I have to do like MacGyver because I can't ride the bike the way it is, with my shoe all stuck in between the fork and the spokes and the fender all wrapped around it. And rats, the metal thingy that was holding the fender on has ripped off and is cutting into the tire, so it must be flat... except it isn't.
So I say, "I have my pump, so I will let the air out of the tire to make more room for things and so that thing isn't squeezing on it. That's what MacGyver would do."
Then I tug at things to no avail and say, "tugging isn't working. My goal is to loosen. What else can I loosen?" So I undo the fender nuts and was doing the last one when I realized it was the same one holding hte light on, and thought, "don't do that!" and just wrestled the fender out so it wasn't tangled.
There's that silly shoe. My sock is getting dirty.

I wrestle with my shoe some more. WHat would MacGyver do? I call work to say "I'll be a little late, probably 15 or 20 minutes, or however long it takes to get this shoe out of my wheel."
"Okay, I'll tell E___." (No questions about shoes in wheels. Hey, it's me.)
The shoe has not been inspired to release itself. What is the rule, here? I say to myself "if it went in, it should be able to get out. Let us reverse the process." I push the wheel backwards. VOila! Shoe extricated!
I bend the fender and the things I've unbolted so they're not going to stick in the wheel. I put my shoe all the way on. It is fine. I've stopped wobbling.
So I ride in and am almost exactly 20 minutes late.

I email FPTRNT (my bike shop man, a.k.a. "favorite person to ride next to" and say "I'll prob'ly need a new fender. It tried to eat my shoe. I will try to be down for lunch even though it's Wednesday." Welp, he says he's off today and they're out of hybrid fenders, and I should get guru head mechanic man to jot down the special order for Dahon fenders & rack 'cause yesterday was a zoo and he didn't get to it. I almost just called down, but wanted help fully extricating the fender, which I got, and an inspection of the tire, which does appear to be okay.

Tomorrow is another day :)

Ouch!

sorry if you hear me giggling :o

I was kind of giggling too - all those MacGyver references and I keep picturing the parody of him on the Simpsons. :rolleyes:

V.

Sorry if you heard me snickering! Thanks for sharing your adventure, Ms. MacGyver.

Oh, and Bontrager Hard Case Tires ROCK!!!! (almost as much as my lbs guys :) )

I finally had time to read this (not a good day today with replacing compooters) and I'm howling over the unmotivated shoe. :D

What a great story, the suspense put me on the edge of my seat.
I couldn't wait to hear what MacGuyver would do!
and I have a new compass for future dilemmas.
"WWMD?"

That is one disadvantage of fenders. A few weeks ago, I made a cold and ill advised 30 mile trip up to the Amish community towing 2 heavy oak chairs I needed repaired. Other than losing all feeling in my toes the first hour, the trip was going slowly but uneventfully, when I wobbled and caught my toe clip in the fender. The fender was busted and down I went.

However, my shoes were tied securely to my cold numb feet. And the trailer hitch performed admirably. Nothing can knock that trailer over, particularly with 44 pounds of oak chairs on it!

At no time on that trip did I think "What would MacGuyver do?" I had all the tools I needed to remove the fender, and a cell phone to call for help. I'm sure MacGuyver would sneer at such preparation.

I was *very* glad that I had pump and wrench and screwdrivers, etc. I didn't use any real MacGyver tactics (not even ductape!) - but I have *no* mechanical instincts whatsoever so I have to talk it through. It means people think I'm creative... but it's only because I don't knwo how normal people would do it :D
Today it seems like one side of the handlebar is closer to me than the other. Maybe it always has been. Maybe I need to go to the bike shop ;)

Could be the bar was knocked a bit askew and the headset loosened. Careful about the headset until you, ahem, visit your shop. But it performed like it should in a crash so whoever adjusted it pre-crash did good.

I'm sure I see a bit of dust there on your fork also. Might need another trip to the shop for inspection.:D

Did you not spend at least one second, while you were trying to pull the shoe out of there, thinking about how you'd tell the story to your fellow TE women?

Awesome job at getting that shoe out of there!

Thing is, it doesn't seem askew... it seems the right side is straight and the left side at a different angle. However, since it's already a little weird 'cause it's a Giant handlebar stuck in a Bianchi stem (that Richmond VA bike shop did that for me 'cause I liked the Bianchi angles but the nice one that was the last year's model that I had test ridden had gotten sold before I came back, and I couldn't afford this year's model), it might just need knocking about a bit.
We'll just see. Time to go (yes, it's late ;) ) change into the dressier garb...

I so wish you had pics.

BTW, glad you're OK

By the way, I like both fenders and MacGuyver. The benefits of fenders far outweigh the disadvantages. Benefits: protect your drivetrain, keep you a little cleaner, and, if they are bright yellow, increase your visibility.

And MacGuyver is just cool. We're watching it straight through on dvd these days.

how much did it hurt?

I can change a tire with three paperclips :D not really but that would be pretty cool

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Geonz

Thing is, it doesn't seem askew... it seems the right side is straight and the left side at a different angle. However, since it's already a little weird 'cause it's a Giant handlebar stuck in a Bianchi stem (that Richmond VA bike shop did that for me 'cause I liked the Bianchi angles but the nice one that was the last year's model that I had test ridden had gotten sold before I came back, and I couldn't afford this year's model),

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Ok ok, Geonz....first of all, maybe it wasn't the handlebars - maybe it was you?? :eek::D

And.....don't try to blame the VA bike shops - just come back here and get it readjusted! :rolleyes:;):D