...And Finally You Have to Admit Defeat...

Since finally fixing our rear brake and inner tube, we've been trying to get back into riding on a regular basis to make up for lost time. One of the things that has been an on-going problem is that the rear spokes keep working themselves loose. I have been checking (and tightening) the spokes prior to every ride, and yet by the end of the ride the spokes are loose again. On a related issue, the eyelets in the rear wheel are starting to come loose, and are then sliding up and down on the spoke as the wheel turns. This past weekend things finally came to a head and fell apart.

On Friday we did our first 30+ mile ride in a while, riding the Yough Trail from Duquesne to Buena Vista and back. We've done this ride a couple of times before, so I wasn't really anticipating any issues. Silly me... About 6 miles into the ride, our rear tire flatted. Fortunately we were in a quiet area behind Christy Park, so changing the tire wasn't difficult. What was odd, was that the hole in the tube was right by the valve, as though the tube had torn. I replaced the tube and we continued on. In hindsight, I should have taken this as on omen, and turned around and headed back to the car. Although we didn't have any additional mechanical problems with the bike, the heat started to get to me, and I started to suffer from dehydration. Even though I was drinking greater than normal amounts of Gatorade and water, I started to feel nauseous and weak after about 20 miles. Unfortunately there was nothing to do but push on through the last 10 miles until we got back to the car. After we got home I was a total mess, until I had downed three additional bottles of water. Looking back, I think the problem was that I didn't make sure I was properly hydrated BEFORE we started. So my body started at a deficit, and even though I was drinking along the way (we usually stop every 20 minutes for a drink) my body never caught up.

Two days later we were doing our usual 14.5 mile ride along Beechwood Boulevard. Prior to going our I had to re-tighten the rear spokes again. Towards the end of the ride there was a strange noise coming from the rear wheel. As we pulled onto our street, there was a pop, and I discovered that one of the spokes had become detached from the rim (see the photo). This is different then the usual spoke-breaking-at-the-hub problem. At least we were close enough we could walk home.

Unfortunately the word from the bike shop (Big Bang in West Mifflin) is not good. The rim is shot. Unfortunately Bontrager no longer makes the Super Sport wheel, so we can't get a replacement rim, and I'm going to have to buy a whole new wheel... So much for trying to break 1000 miles by the end of August...

...And Other Days You Still Can't Win...

As posted previously, we flatted our rear tire on Sunday while taking KJ to a picnic. Unfortunately the spare didn't hold air either. We finally managed to get KJ to the picnic, and walked the bike back home.

At the beginning of the week the wife was out and about, so I was at home watching the kids and without a means to get to a bike shop. After a couple of days I was able to walk to the nearby K-Mart and get a set of self-adhesive Slime "Scabs" patches. K-Mart didn't have any Presta-valved inner tubes, so the patches were my only option. Wednesday morning I went to install the patches. There were two different tubes I tried to patch, but unfortunately neither of them would hold air. I've previously had good luck using "Scabs" but now I'm not so sure anymore.

While working on the inner tubes I encountered a new problem: An adjustment screw on the rear brake somehow stripped the threaded hole it was in. As a result the screw no longer could hold the brake arm in the proper position, and the brake pad pressed against the tire. I tried a couple of workarounds, none of which worked. Finally on Thursday I managed to get to a bike shop and purchase a new rear brake assembly, along with two new inner tubes (one to install, and one for my spare). Installing the new brake assembly was not that difficult. Shimano included very good instructions, and the process was simplified by the fact that I was using the existing brake lever and brake cables. Thursday night we finally were able to get out, going for an 8 mile ride to Squirrel Hill to test out the new brakes.

All of this has been quite frustrating for me. We have been doing a record amount of riding in June and July, and at the start of August we were only 250 miles from our annual goal of 1000 miles. I was hoping that for August we might set a new one-month record of 300 miles or more. This would be the earliest we had reached the 1000 mile mark, and I further expected we might break our single-season mark of 1201 miles. As of right now, through the first 12 days of the month we only have 48 miles, which is half of what we should have at this point. It is unlikely we will log 300 miles or more this month. We still have an outside shot to break 1000 miles, since we only need another 200 miles.

The most surprising thing in all this has been how upset KJ is that he hasn't been able to go biking. Although KJ has always loved biking, now he really wants to bike. He's become a biking machine. Every morning he asks if we are going biking, and then asks how many miles we will be doing. Presumably a lot of this has to do with the fact that he is done with camp and doesn't start school until the end of August. So biking gives him the structure he needs right now.

Some Days You Can't Win...

One of the things we have been trying to do for the last several years is to use our bicycling for actual transportation to and from a destination, rather than just for recreation. Our living in Swissvale actually works out pretty well for this, because it is an easy ride to get to the Squirrel Hill shopping district. Once the powers-that-be finally finish the work on the Rankin Bridge, hopefully we will be able to resume our bike trips to the Waterfront shopping complex.

One of the ways we have been using the bike for this is to take KJ to his Friendship Circle get-togethers. Friendship Circle is a youth program for special-needs kids and their typical peers. KJ loves attending it, and fortunately for us, it is based in Squirrel Hill. So I've taken him there on the tandem, and then we've ridden home after things are over. We get our riding in, plus we don't have to worry about having the car available. We've done it twice before, and today was supposed to be an end-of-summer picnic at Schenley Park to close things out.

When doing something like this, it is always important to factor the extra transportation time required (compared to driving) into your schedule. We left the house at 4:45, and the picnic started at 6, so we had plenty of time to get to Schenley Park. Unfortunately today we had problems getting there. The rear tire (with a self-sealing slime-filled tube) suddenly decided to develop a leak, apparently through the valve stem. After re-inflating the tire a couple of times (and only getting about 1/2 mile each time), I decided to change the tube and install our spare. With our current tires this is a quick and painless process. Unfortunately, the spare tube decided that it wasn't going to hold any air either. And I didn't have a patch kit with me...

Our schedule was down the toilet. We were running out of options, and KJ was anxious to get to Friendship Circle. I called my wife, and fortunately she had just gotten home with our younger son. She ended up driving up to where we were stuck (on Forbes Avenue, near the entrance to Homewood Cemetery) so we could get KJ to the picnic. We then walked the bike back home (we normally don't leave the DraftMaster bike rack on the car, it is just too big!). Everything worked out in the end, although KJ was upset that we didn't bike to the picnic.

I haven't had a chance yet to figure out what is going on with our inner tubes, so I will post a follow-up article in a couple of days to let you know what I find out.