Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Group ride, interrupted

The Bike Me DC group met up at the Herndon Depot yesterday for a casual ride to the Vienna Depot and back, and I rode the three miles from home to Herndon to meet the group for the ride. We had lovely weather despite one member wearing his cursed jersey again. It rains every time he wears that jersey (the Reston Century riders can thank him), except for last night. Hooray!

We took off shortly after 6pm and the speed demons left six of us in the dust. Eventually, another woman -- Rebecca -- and I pulled ahead of the last four folks. Rebecca and I had wound up pushing our bikes up the final hill during last year's Great Pumpkin Ride and discovered that our cruising speeds are compatible. We rode side by side and chattered happily about upcoming group rides, vacation plans, and bicycle maintenance. We even continued chatting as we rode up the hills that both of us find troubling. It felt great to have a riding companion with similar strength.

A couple of miles outside of Vienna, I hit a pothole. It jarred me and Lily, but she seemed okay. I heard an odd sound and thought that I might have damaged one of my tires, but they weren't losing air. Rebecca pulled ahead of me and eventually left me in the dust. I couldn't get any speed and momentum was nil. My body was starting to hurt, too: hands, back, sides, tush, and feet. I was only ten miles in, with fourteen to go, and I was miserable. As I approached the Depot, two ladies from the far behind group passed me. When I joined the group, I examined my back tire and realized that the brake clamped down on the rim at certain points. I told the ride leader that I was going to take my bike up to the Vienna branch of Spokes, Etc, and have them take a look. The guys, of course, flocked to my bike and tried to fix the problem. I stepped back and let them tweak to their hearts' content. Despite the team's best efforts, my brake still wouldn't let go of the tire. One of the guys did notice that the tire was slightly out of true and that was most likely causing the problem.

The group didn't like leaving me behind but I told them I'd be fine and would have my husband come rescue me if the bike couldn't be fixed this evening. With that, I walked my bike the half mile or so to the bike shop. The diagnosis was that I'd broken a spoke and, happily, the fix was quick and cheap. I phoned Scott, who was halfway to the shop, and told him I was good to ride back home. Since he was in my car, I didn't feel too guilty about his burning gas and toll road money for the wasted trip. He was concerned about the fading light, but I assured him I was okay with my blinky headlight and do-not-look-into-laser-with-remaining-eye tail light.

And I was okay. At least until I got out of Vienna proper when I realized that I'd left my water bottle at the service counter of the shop. Guh. Reston wasn't that far away and I could snag a bottle of water at the McD's next to the trail on Wiehle. I chased the fading light and was in full-on darkness as I approached Herndon. The ninja joggers and cyclists were out in force and I gave my bell a workout warning folks of my passing. I'm VERY happy not to have found any deer on the trail since my spotlight-the-next-county headlight was on the kitchen counter at home. I'm also VERY happy not to have hit the skunk which trundled out of the underbrush just before I got to Sterling Blvd. I don't think I've ever seen a live one in the wild and I'm glad that we passed each another without physical or aerosolized contact.

I thought that I'd be exhausted when I got home, but coasting for a mile or so revitalized me. I was tired and hurting because it's been a while since I've ridden over twenty miles, but I did manage a total of 24 miles in just over two hours, plus the twenty minutes or so of bike repair. And one of these days I'll get to complete a Bike Me DC ride with the whole group.

6 comments:

  1. Wow... sounds like an eventful ride - full of skunk sightings and all! :O) Glad you made it home safe and sound. The potholes can be rough, especially when unexpected. I hit one the other day and it about chattered my teeth right out of my head. I guess I'm lucky I didn't go flying off the bike.

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    1. It was a gorgeous evening for a ride, and I'm very lucky that the malfunction happened at that particular section of the trail. If I'd broken a spoke on any of the other group rides, I'd have been hoofing it with the bike quite a ways. I'm glad that your teeth and you stayed in their correct places after your pothole!

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  2. Glad you made it home okay. I'm always concerned about getting a flat or having other problems because my bike fixing skills are pretty much nil. I can fix a flat, but it takes forever. Thankfully, there are a lot of bike shops along my normal routes.

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    1. Thanks! I only get nervous about mechanical failures when I'm on the western end of the W&OD and not close to a bike shop much less civilization. Even then, I've usually got cell reception and can holler for help. I've been really lucky that my only mechanicals thus far have been broken spokes and were both quickly fixed without too much aggravation or stress.

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  3. Good job for getting over that challenge and thank heavens you are all right! :) What kind of protective bike clothing would you recommend for adventurers like you?

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    1. Thanks! I'm lucky that the bike shop was so close by. It's funny: I haven't had a single flat (knock wood! knock wood!), but this is the second spoke I've broken on that wheel.

      Protective clothing for me should probably include some kind of full body armor made of Kevlar. ;) My knees and calves still bear the scars of crashes from six months ago and my left foot is still kind of gimpy from the crash in early June.

      To actually answer your question, though, my primary recommendation would be clothes that provide high visibility. When I commute in the cold months and when it's dark, I wear a high-viz jacket with lots of reflectors. I've also got gloves with some reflective bits (mostly the brand logo), and I'm on the lookout for something that is bright enough that drivers and other cyclists can see my hand signals.

      My next consideration is temperature. I overheat fairly easily and need clothing that will breathe. For example, as I rode to work this morning, I passed a dozen or so commuters who wore jackets and tights while I was in a short sleeve open weave-sweater over a sleeveless shell. I am most definitely a cold weather cyclist.

      For bike specific clothing, I wish there were more options for plus size women besides the larger men's sizes. I know it's difficult to provide off-the-rack women's clothes since there are so many body shapes to consider, but it'd be nice to find a women's 2x that is sized for my smaller torso that isn't sized like a babydoll t-shirt.

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