We scheduled a wee ride after work on Thursday, the idea being to give the legs a warm up before we hit the hill on the weekend. I was going to skive off work a bit early, meet Logan around 5pm, then we'd head off on a ride before the southerly hit.
Everything went well, except the 'before' part of that statement. My little weather monitor shows the windspeed picking up dramatically at 5pm, and blowing good and hard for many hours, primarily the hours we were out riding in it of course.
We started out quite nicely, heading north and east mostly, wind at our backs, speed occasionally jumping over 40kph (yea!) and very pleasant (despite traffic). However, when we turned to head back down the other side, it was a headwind that almost halved our speed and made the flatness of Canterbury feel like riding up Mt. Everest! We pushed on through it (with a cheeky road cyclist draughting behind us for a while) till we could turn north again, and things became easier.
We decided to head up to Spencer park and take the Pegasus track back down to North Beach so we could have a bit of off-road as well. Easily achieved, and we were onto the Pegasus track before long. One advantage of the track is that it's mostly sheltered from the wind, so heading south on it is easier than on the road. We'd done about 30km of road so far, and that was enough for now.
We had made it almost halfway down the track and were climbing a small rise up the sand dunes when Logan's enormously strong legs caused the chain to bend & rip the small ring off the front chain ring of the bike. Bent, twisted, mangled, completely ruined. We examined it and yes, she was toast, but even worse was the fact that it was bent so badly that the cranks would no longer turn as it kept hitting the bike frame. Doh! We're a long walk away from the carpark too.
Some bush engineering comes into play, trying to use tools and rocks to bend the ring back so the cranks can turn, all to no avail. Here I would like to say a big Thank You! to all the cyclists who stopped and offered assistance, it was bloody awesome to see so many people willing to help others. Sadly, almost none could help... Funnily enough, a group of 3 stopped to offer assistance and I was chatting to one while another was chatting to Logan, marvelling at the damage we had caused and watching Logan use a crescent as a lever trying to bend the ring back into place. Those who have read this blog before know it's Logan who does the mechanics on the bike (usually changing tubes while I gossip) and it wasn't till a few minutes later than he admitted to the man he was conversing with that actually, he is blind, and no he can't see the gestures he was making, and pointing at bits of the broken chainring wasn't actually helping him much.
We were at the stage where only removing the crank so we could dump the small ring was going to save us, and nobody carries an allen key big enough for that task. Until the bloody fantastic Welsh fella (I should have got his name!) produced one like a rabbit from a hat. Sadly, removing the crank was not the solution, and a new plan was devised. We managed to remove the remaining screws from the small ring, and using the mighty power of cable ties (never go mountain biking without them!) we strapped the ring to the bottom bracket and we were able to turn the cranks again! With thanks and praise for the Welsh, we were off down the track, hoping to make it home before sunset, but not wanting to put any extra pressure on the remaining chainrings.
We did make it home in the end, and despite the pitstop, managed about 43km with a top speed of over 40kph! Logan is taking the bike to the shop today, and we're expecting to hear that the damage we caused is actually impossible to cause by peddling, and have them recommend (again) the new set of titanium cranksets at $6,500 a pair. (That's pair left & right, so we'll need two sets please.) Donations are welcome at this stage! I think Logan sold a kidney to get the bike this far, and now he's muttering about how much children cost and how the American celebrities are willing to pay big bucks for little kids nowadays...
So, moral of the story? Cable ties are essential, strong wind is always a headwind no matter which way you go, and the mountain bike community are a wonderful bunch who are always willing to lend a hand (or tool) when they can.
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