Catching Up

Riding:
I haven't been doing much. I started riding in the Kisscross cyclocross series. I crashed out the first race. The second race I managed to finish but I somehow hurt my ankle. I could hardly walk for a week and ended up visiting urgent care. It's the first doctor's visit I've made in the last 10 years, so it must have hurt bad. I had X-Rays, blood tests and plenty of poking and prodding and they couldn't figure out what was wrong. They sent me home with some drugs and it's gotten progressively better since then.

I expect to get my wheel back sometime soon (6 spokes = $50) so I can get on the trainer. I've developed a training plan for Andrea and can't wait to join here. We plan on racing the MMBA CPS race series next season (although Andrea's worried about scars before the wedding).

Andrea:
She's doing well. She's been able to finish all the Kisscross races she's entered. She was able to lap another rider in her last race. I bought her a new cyclocross bike for Christmas but I gave it to her early. She has her own blog, check the links on the left.

Properly Adjusted Limit Screws

I knew the limit screws on my rear derailer were out of adjustment, but it didn't really matter.

So I'm out on training ride, coming down a hill, toward a stop light. Speed, about 20, down shifting getting ready to stop. Forgetting the limit screws, I shifted too my lowest gear, throwing the chain into the spokes which sent me sliding down a hill uncontrollably. Luckily, I didn't go down. But my tire did.

About the time I get out of the road, Andrea and some friends came rolling up. They asked if I had a flat and why I wasn't fixing it. I stuck my finger through the tire, they said "oh." I waited about an hour for Andrea to pick me up, remembering that spare tire I used to carry with me. Eventually, I got home, changed the tire, it's all good.

Wrong!

About a month later, I'm on a multi-day tour up through Michigan (DALMAC). I'm riding along, about thirty miles from nowhere, when I here a loud ping. I pulled over to find a broken spoke. No problem, I think, a SAG wagon will be along shortly. They'll take me to one of the repair trucks and I'll be back on the road. When the SAG picked me up, we hit the first repair truck we could find. They didn't have straight pull spokes for Campy Neutron wheels. OK, the other truck's from a Campy shop, they'll have something. Wrong, again. Luckily, Andrea's mom came up to meet us a day early so I had someone to drive me around. We ended up visiting every shop along the route. No spokes. My tour ended early.

Lessons Learned: Keep the limit screws adjusted and always carry spare spokes.