broke my bike and now my shoes/cleats!

[caligurl]

ok.... so last thursday i was on the evil trainer... and attempting to do a spinerval with evil coach troy... i've been having problems with my bike shifting.. or rather not wanting to shift to the big chain ring.... so i'm trying to shift when troy is yelling at us to shift.. and it wouldn't go... so stupid me.. i decide to try two hands... well.. guess what!?! yep... broke it!

fortunately i could still shift between the granny and middle gear.. so i did get to do my metric century ride on saturday that i had already registered and paid for... and got to ride sun and yesterday!

so then i get home yesterday and unclip my right foot.. but promplty fall into the stinky rosemary (i have allergies) on my right side.. couldn't unclip... found out why! the two "top" screws had fallen out and the two bottoms were loos!

hubby got my shift lever off and it's now on it's way back to shimano to get fixed/replaced... and i called speedplay and they are sending some more screw!

i just hope that both arrive before next weekend so that i can ride! i have to get prepared for my first century (feb 5)

[Jennifer Gallow]

First century ... that wouldn't be the Tour de Palm Springs, would it ... ? Feb 5 .... that's my first century ride and I'm really looking forward to it!

[SadieKate]

Bummer! Use Loctite (blue formula) on the screws this time. And tighten them up again after the 1st couple rides. The sole of your shoe will get little indentations from the cleats and you want to be sure to snug everything up into them after a little wear.

[caligurl]

Originally posted by Jennifer Gallow
First century ... that wouldn't be the Tour de Palm Springs, would it ... ? Feb 5 .... that's my first century ride and I'm really looking forward to it!

yes it would!

i'm torn between being excited and being scared to death! i was there last year as a non-rider... driving from rest stop to rest stop to take pics and cheer hubby on.. WHAT A NIGHTMARE!

if this was the ONLY event non-cyclists saw.. no wonder they have bad opinions of cyclists!

first there are a TON of people (over 5,000 i believe)... they take up the whole lane and sometimes the other, oncoming lane... at the rest stops they lay their bikes down in front of your vehicle even when your sitting it it trying to get out of the driveway...

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

i've never ridden with so many people! i've done 2 organized metric centuries... the first one we were late so i left 15 minutes after the crowd.. the 2nd one.. was actually split between two weekends cuz of our horrible weather.. so there were only about 40 people (and i ended up near the rear real quick! lol!)

i enjoyed both of those immensely!

but the tour.. i'm nervouse as heck! lol! hope no one knocks me over!

[caligurl]

Originally posted by SadieKate
Bummer! Use Loctite (bloue formula) on the screws this time. And tighten them up again after the 1st couple rides. The sole of your shoe will get little indentations from the cleats and you want to be sure to snug everything up into them after a little wear.

thanx for the tip! i've already cut and pasted your post in an email to hubby so he can get some loctite (and do it to his too!)

[sarahfixit]

Usually the cleats will corrode in place pretty effectively just by making them very clean before installing. I wax the cleat itself very heavily(makes it slick) then put the clean bolts in. Once they get moisture the corrosion locks them very throughly(like almost breaking the wrench). Of course the PA road crews have some part, salting the roads and all.

[SadieKate]

We don't get enough moisture out here in the dry, arid west. Loctite is a must in dry climates. Plus, we don't salt our roads. We use cinder and other stuff. Never thought about the climate actually corroding stuff together, hmmm. . . .

[sarahfixit]

I forgot there were places where there wasn't corrosion!
I grew up in a coastal salt-air town, then moved to the ever rainy PA. Corrosion and rust are just matters of maintenance or death here. If I don't wax my steel frame it is brown in a year or less.

[caligurl]

lol! ya... i was thinking that about the corrosion! it rarely rains in the desert (we won't talk about the past 3-4 weeks though!) i've actually only ridden in the rain once!

[CorsairMac]

Rust?....Corrosion?....isn't that the stuff I see on home shows that these designer type people are always trying to make their brand new metal things look like? (ain't I a stinker? )

[Jennifer Gallow]

"but the tour.. i'm nervouse as heck! lol! hope no one knocks me over!"


Yeah I'm a bit nervous about all the people. We were thinking about starting a bit late and blowing through the first stop or two ... we're self-contained for about 60 miles but at that point we'll want fresh water and food.

Good to know it's total chaos though ... it's always easier to deal with when it's expected!

Hey, good luck and have fun!

J

[caligurl]

blow through the stops... ME? lol! queen of the potty breaks? not a chance that's happening!

if anything i was thinking of cheating and starting early!

[sarahfixit]

Rust?....Corrosion?....isn't that the stuff I see on home shows that these designer type people are always trying to make their brand new metal things look like? (ain't I a stinker? )

As a restorer, I shake my head at such people.
Cool on the Corsair stuff. I love that plane(and a great deal of that era). That is one impressive engine on there! In AV mechanic school we have the next size down engine. It was HUGE! And cool