august rides

[Crankin]

Rode 30 miles with DH, in Harvard, Littleton, and Boxborough, Acton, without doing any of the big hills (which is kinda hard!). We started out to climb Oak Hill, but DH just doesn't want to push his recovery and he was feeling a little tired. There were enough little hills to keep me busy. I'm focusing on riding a couple or a few days in a row now, in preparation for my trip. I know I can do the climbing at this point in the season, that part is all mental for me. And I've been riding even the bigger climbs with my Kuota, which has a couple of less lower gears than my Guru, and the gearing is more like what I'll have in Portugal on a Madone.
I've noticed a little issue with my Terry Bella shorts. They used to be the shorts I always wore, but when I went to Spain, the heat was unbearable, and I ended up riding in the 2 pairs of Sugoi RS I had. Since then I usually reserve the Terrys for early/late in the season, when I need leg or knee warmers, since they are the only shorts that don't give me horrible thigh bulges. It's going to be cool in the mornings in Portugal, so I've been wearing them a little more, and I've been having soft tissue issues. Nothing else has changed. I am wondering if they are just old and the chamois is worn, or I need something different now. I generally hate thick chamois and I am not sure how the RS are different. I might buy one new pair of the Bellas and see. I now have like 5 pairs of the Sugoi.

[ny biker]

I started having chafing problems with the Neo Power shorts, including a new pair of them. I think something about me has changed, the way I'm sitting or something. I've been happy with the Gore Oxygen shorts -- their new chamois is very good, thinner in front than in back.

I was going to do a 50-mile ride in northern Maryland yesterday, a club ride that would give me a chance to check out some roads that I'd like to include on some routes I've been working on. But the weather forecast was iffy, with rain possible, and I had had a long week at work and I was just really tired when I got up yesterday morning. So I decided to skip it. This turned out to be a good idea, since it rained very hard in that area yesterday during the late morning/early afternoon. And I went back to bed and slept until 11, so I guess I needed the rest.

I had to work this morning starting at 6:30, and we finished up around noon. By then the sun was out and the humidity was dropping. I headed out for a solo afternoon ride, using a 48-mile cue sheet I had developed last month for a ride with a few friends. That ride had to be cut short, because one of my friends wasn't feeling well. But one of the good things about this route is that it's easy to short-cut. Sure enough, my legs felt pretty tired from the get-go so I figured I'd cut out a 10-mile section and make it an easier ride.

After about 15-16 miles, I was nearing my rest stop at a wildlife sanctuary on a river, when I felt something snap. It was a spoke on my rear wheel. Okay, this has never happened before. (Did I mention I was riding alone, in a quiet rural area, and that I live alone, have no significant other and no family within 300 miles?) Now I remember that a friend always keeps duct tape and zip ties in her bike bag. Why don't I do this??? Would they even help???? I find a small plastic sandwich bag in my handlebar bag (in case I need to keep something dry in the rain), and I use that to tie the broken spoke to one next to it. But now the wheel won't turn. I open the brake lever, it's still rubbing, the wheel is out of true. Damn. My car is at at a small community park, and it's not a short walk to get back there. I know the roads around here well, what's the best way to go? Wait, let me send an email to my bike club's yahoo group -- there are a few members who live nearby, and others might have suggestions.

So I send the email, giving details on where I am and where my car is, then I have a quick snack, put the cleat covers on my cleats and start walking. Fortunately I'm able to walk the bike without too much trouble. Fortunately the weather is fantastic, sunny but not hot. Fortunately the road is not steep; since I was down near the river, every route back is uphill.

After about 10 minutes, my phone rang -- one of my friends from the club is out running errands and can meet me to bring me back to my car. Yay!! We made arrangements to meet at the intersection where the the road I'm on meets the main road in the area. A few other club members sent emails with tips on how to make the bike rideable -- loosening the brake cable, loosening the spokes on the other side (if I had a spoke wrench, which I don't). Another friend sent the name of a cab company that serves the area I'm in.

The walk was actually not too bad, even uphill in cleats. Though my legs and feet definitely would have been hurting if I'd had to walk the whole way.

I left the bike in the car, so I can bring it to the shop tomorrow to get the wheel fixed (or replaced? I hope it's fixable). While I'm there, I'll get a spoke wrench and ask them to show me how to use it. I actually had thought it would have been bad for the wheel to try to ride the bike with a broken spoke, but I guess that's something that is okay to do. I supposed you'd want to get off the saddle when going over bumps, and of course you'd have to be careful with only the front brake for slowing and stopping.

By the way, this is my friend's trick for carrying duct tape in her bike bag -- take a piece of cardboard and wrap a long strip of tape around it. This will give you a small "role" of tape for roadside repairs. She also has a fiber spoke that can be used as a temporary replacement when needed, so I'll look into that. Also I'll be programming the name and number of that cab company into my phone.

So, I had a pleasant 15ish mile ride, followed by an adventure that underscored how very nice the people in my bike club are.

[roo4]

ny biker, you're right, bike club people are the best! Glad you were able to make connections.

(my ride was rained out yesterday, so no report. I had limited time today so I went for a run instead)

[emily_in_nc]

Ah, ny biker, so glad you were able to get some assistance. It's times when something like this happens that we always realize how we could be better prepared, but more often than not, a cell phone is your best line of defense.

I am sure your wheel will be fine. I broke a spoke on each wheel in Belize (not on the same day) due to them rusting out, and was able to get the wheel rebuilt. At each time I replaced all the spokes with stainless steel -- a must when living on a salty island. One big difference in there and here is that the young bike shop guy only charged me $15 BZD ($7.50 US) on labor! And he spent around 90 minutes each time! Of course, I gave him a very good good tip!

Today's ride was a good one. We rode a gorgeous route DH just discovered. It was tacked onto one of our usual 40 mile loops, so I ended up with 61 miles. The scenery was breathtakingly gorgeous, and we only got passed by a couple of vehicles on the 21 mile addition -- it's super deserted rolling farm country. We were lucky enough to have NO wind starting out and a tailwind for a lot of the middle section, but our luck ran out in the last 5 miles where we faced a stiff cross to headwind, as the wind clocked around due to nearby afternoon storms. I thought I'd never get back and was going SO slowly at the end.

Here are a couple of photos so you can see how pretty it was...this was north of the tiny town of Touchet, WA outside of Walla Walla.

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