A Sorta Bad Last Commute

[Crankin]

OK, tomorrow is my last day of teaching forever. So, I decided to commute today, as tomorrow I have a lunch, meetings, etc. On the way in I was overdressed, and was in a cold sweat when I got to work. I was in layers, so I stopped twice to peel a couple of things off, which was annoying. It was the first time I felt totally sweaty all over when getting there in the morning and ended up giving myself a pretty thorough sponge bath in the ladies room. I felt sticky all day. It stayed cloudy all day, but right before i left, I checked the weather and it said it was 64, feels like 61. And, the sun was poking through when I went to change. I had on arm warmers, but decided against the knee warmers and vest. Well, by the time i got outside, it felt really cold and it was windy. I decided I would stop at the first gas station, about 3.5 miles. I was freezing at first, but then I got warmed up, so it was really just my legs that were cool. I decided not to stop at the gas station and gave myself another few miles before I would stop. It was spitting little rain drops, but not enough for the cars to have their wipers on. But still, I was praying it didn't rain, since I had no rain jacket with me. I got to the half way point and stopped to take a really long drink, since my little sips weren't helping the horrible thirst I had. I decided not to take the time to put the knee warmers on. I got through some heavy traffic situations, making a left and then I had to cross a highway with a light. The light was green and cars were going through, but I was still aways off. I really sprinted, but the light turned yellow as i was about half way through. Thankfully, the cars going the other way had to still wait for people turning left on an arrow. After that little fright, I felt OK, but the shifting on my rear cassette has been getting progressively worse. Ever since my husband put a 12-27 on last August, there has been one cog that sort of skips. He has tried everything to fix it; it will be OK for awhile and then it goes back. A couple of weeks ago, my bike fell over in my classroom. The derailleur got bent a little, we fixed that, but then it started shifting by itself! It's been on and off worse for a couple of weeks. It started really going crazy during the last five miles of my commute. A nice moving van stopped to let me make a left across Rt. 2A and I climbed up Pope Rd with no problems, except feeling tired. Feeling glad that i was almost home, I zoomed down Strawberry Hill, approaching the climb on my street. I put it in the granny and the rear was in the middle cog; all of a sudden, I felt like "gee this feels kind of hard", so i went to shift down and it wouldn't move. I looked down, and it was in the hardest cog... how it got there, I don't know. I clipped out half way up the hill and scooted over to a driveway on the other side of the street. I could not move the thing at all . But, I was determined not to walk, so I slugged up the hill, coasted on the down part and climbed back up to my driveway. Knowing I wouldn't make it up the 15% grade in this gear, I accepted defeat and walked up the driveway.
When I got home, the thermometer said 58, so no wonder I was cold. I called my husband and he asked if a cable was snapped, but i don't see anything that is visibly broken. I guess I should be glad this happened on my street!

[mimitabby]

quite the story, Robyn. You never fell! I am surprised that you didn't warm up with all that riding.

[Zen]

That is sheer determination.
I probably would have asked if they had room in the moving van for me and the bike

[Crankin]

Ok, it IS the shifter cable. I just wasn't looking in exactly the right place. This must have been building up over the past few months, almost since I got my bike. It's just barely a year old and my husband thinks that someone might have nicked the cable during installation.
As for being cold, yes, I did warm up quite a bit, that's why I decided not put the other stuff on. But when i got home, my legs were a little red from cold because I had not followed my own rule of "cover the knees below 65." I took a hot shower and changed, but I still feel sort of chilled.

[SheFly]

Congrats on the last commute! Not sure WHAT is up with this weather here in New England, but I went out with the team tonight, and was dressed like it was fall - knee warmers, underlayer, heavy top, vest, wool socks. Hard to believe that it is JUNE...

Good luck tomorrow; I'm sure that it will be a tough day emotionally, knowing you are done FOREVER! Just think of how much time you'll have to devote to riding now though

Happy retirement, Robyn! Here's to warm weather, flawless shifting, and rubber on the road.

SheFly

[Veronica]

I'm sorry your weather is crummy. But I'm also kind of glad. My sister has one more week of chemo and radiation therapy. Yay!!!! The cooler weather is helping her stay sane.

The one hot weekend you had was hell for her. Low 70s and sunny with low humidity would be nice.

V.

[massbikebabe]

Robyn;

You are one tough little lady!!! Congrats on the retirement, or as my mother the teacher said upon her retirement, "Wish me well on my extended vacation"

We should get together sometime...I am always home!!



karen

[Crankin]

Hey Karen,
I have wondered how you are doing. I will PM you and we can set a date for coffee or lunch. I actually have a busy week next week, which includes leading a ride on Friday, on a route that I am not familiar with, so i have to go out and ride it before hand.
Talk to you soon,

Robyn

[emily_in_nc]

Congrats on the last commute! Not sure WHAT is up with this weather here in New England, but I went out with the team tonight, and was dressed like it was fall - knee warmers, underlayer, heavy top, vest, wool socks. Hard to believe that it is JUNE...

It's even cool here in NC! We were only in the 60s yesterday with clouds and sprinkles, and around 70 today with the same. Normal high is mid-80s this time of year and due to be 94-95 from Sunday through the rest of next week! Given that, I'm sure New England will be warming up very soon too!

Emily

[Geonz]

We're hot and dry here... got into the 90's. But I went out to depress myself by seeing how dead my two tomato plants were... and found that sneaky neighbor of mine must have been watering 'em. I'd jus tseen her out with the hose and there was this circle of water around each of 'em. So I decided to give up on finding something to be depressed about

Last commute.... whew!!!! So... time for more riding!!!

[Crankin]

That's right, more time for riding.... well, I am actually wondering how much more riding I will do. I think my miles will add up because I can do the group rides I do in the summer into the fall, but I don't know if I will be doing any long rides alone. I tend to do shorter training rides alone, like not more than 25 miles. I do plan to do more errands on my Voodoo, which is set up with a pannier, lights, etc. I had planned to use it to commute to school, but it was just too heavy for me to ride the round trip of just under 30 miles; my average speed on that thing is never more than 12! It is fun, though, to ride it to Concord Center or West Concord and go poke around in the shops.
My husband is replacing the cable as we speak. Oh no, he just said that the cable he has is no good. We have to go to the bike store... now I can spend the gift card my students gave me.

[DebW]

Robyn, congrats on the retirement. Too bad the last commute wasn't your best of the year, but lots of time to make up for that now. Next time you blow a RD cable, take a screwdriver and tighten the H derailleur screw til the derailleur moves inbound a cog or two. You'll give yourself a lower gear to finish the ride with.

[Velobambina]

Robyn--Congrats on retirement! ENJOY. That's quite an accomplishment.
Sorry about your commute. We've all had rides like that where everything seems to go wrong. Only good rides from now on!
It's been cold & cloudy/damp here, too, in the DC area, but tomorrow, hot & humid. Can't wait!!! I was hoping for a scorcher of a summer, after the cold and snowy/icy weather we had in Feb!!!