I have had a good day off. For starters, my dh Phil, the SAG guy, came up to visit and to bring me some oddes and ends, like a couple of fresh jerseys, some extra electrolytes and miscellaneous odds and ends. So not only do I have some different jerseys to change out with the four that I brought originally, but I have my favorite guy to visit and hang out with.
The nice perk is that since my bike needed to go into a bike shop for a questionable chain and some derailleur adjustment, he brought along the bike rack so we loaded up the bike and drove me and several of the ladies to College Station to visit Aggiland Cycles.
It turned out that not only did I need a new chain, but that the housing for the derialleur was worn, which is why, in spite of all the adjustments that both Michelle and I had tried, the chain was consistently skipping while climbing up and the bike would periodically try to drop the chain. While the bike was being worked on, Janet and Mary Jo managed to find a few things they couldn't live without. I had a list of items to buy for a couple of the other ladies so I amassed a pile of stuff on the counter. In short order, my bike was brought forward so I could take it out to the parking lot for a test ride. It was the sort of shop where the repair guy came out and had me ride around the parking lot, passing him as often as possible while running through the gears, so he could assure himself that everything was working. It was a quick, competent and complete repair in a bike shop shop that obviously caters to serious bikers.
In the meantime, a representative from the Saris bike rack company had come in to mention to use that one of the arms on the bike rack needed adjusting and was missing a piece. In addition to saving the bike from sailing off the rack somewhere along the highway, he showed us the latest, greatest, improved and more expensive version of our rack. It added an extra educational aspect to our little field trip.
We stopped off at a steak house for lunch and then came back to hang out around the van and chat with other ladies cleaning our bike. Anne took my old chain and did a quick session on breaking a chain and reconnecting it for an emergency on the road repair. It will be good information to have for riding around Houston, however if for some reason my chain breaks on this ride, I will definitely be calling the SAG vehicle.
Phil left late in the afternoon after helping several ladies with minor repairs and adjustment. I thought that since he was taking a bunch of my stuff, used maps, change out jerseys, old cue sheets, various tourist brochures and information, my luggage might feel a bit lighter, but alas this theory doesn't seem to hold.
Tomorrow's ride will take us through the Sam Houston National forest. It was somewhere along this ride that a woman was killed two year ago on this ride. Apparently she was hit by an older man who never even saw here. The guide's only suggestion was to ride in a group as much as possible for greater visibility. Although the possibility of serious injury is always in the background for all of us, this reminder makes us all realize how vulnerable we are, not only on our bikes, but any time we venture out of our established circle of safety.
Today's stats
distance 1/4 mile around the parking lot of Aggiland Cycles
ride time about 5 minutes
speed 3 mph
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