2026 cycling week 31

July 27 - August 2

Regular morning rides Monday through Friday.

On Thursday, I had an appointment at Oliver’s for a new chain and cassette. It was raining but I would let that stop me because I had n ended a new chain for weeks.

I went to Panera while they were working.

I returned after 90 minutes. (Panera was getting too loud to read.) The new chain wasn’t on yet. I reminded Randy about my doctor’s appointment. He had forgotten and I should have reminded him when I got there. They rushed to get it done and I raced to my appointment. (I was 20 minutes late and they have a 15 minute window I did not know about. I had called while at Oliver’s but no one answered and the call was cut off.) The chain was still skipping and I was hoping it was because of the rain. But the chain continued to skip the following day when everything was dry.

I was going to call Oliver’s on Saturday to let him know about the skipping so they could look at it when I went in to get new brake pads (they didn’t have the correct pads in stock.) I did two grocery runs and was crossing the busy road when my chain snapped. Fuck!

I contacted AAA for a tow. It was 9:30 and Oliver’s wasn’t open yet but I called and left a message.

it took longer for him to secure the bike than it did to ride to the bike shop

It took two hours for the tow.

Randy said that he chose a Shimano cable hoping it would be more compatible and last longer. But it uses a pin instead of a Quick Link and needs to be adjusted correctly. They didn’t get a chance to do this and this is why the chain skipped and eventually snapped.

Randy did recommend that I bring it in and leave it do they can thoroughly clean the bike. (the bike is too big to fit in my van.)

rain threatened but stayed away while i was on the bike

Once everything was done, I rode to Aldi and finished my grocery runs.

Later, I went out to get WingStop for dinner. I turned into our “village” and knew I had a flat. Dammit.

I changed the flat on Sunday then went for a ride. It takes so much effort to get the tire off the wheel that I forget to check for what caused the problem. Also, the tire didn’t seem seated properly. When I rode, I stayed closed to home so I would have to walk too far. Sunday was OK, but Monday…

This week 120 miles (Strava 114)

This year 3,559 miles (Strava 3,407)

Streak 2,346 days