Today was not my day. I really think that Murphy guy must've been onto something when he said that "If something can go wrong, it will". Today has been a model example of Murphy's Law. I'll preface this story by saying that this post will not be particularly cheery, although I'll be trying to counterpoint most of the negatives with a positive.
We'll start with a positive and follow it with the first of the negatives of the week/day. So on Sunday I biked up Reddish Knob again, this time with a few riders I didn't know too well. It was beautiful and difficult, as Reddish tends to be. I started up front, but as usual fell back during the climb. It was a slow plod, but it was perfect. My knee started hurting a bit around mile six of the climb, but more on that later. Suffice it to say, the ride ended in the best way possible: at an all you can eat buffet. I'll just come out and say it... EVERY SINGLE LONG BIKE RIDE SHOULD END AT A BUFFET. Totally perfect afternoon/evening. But onto the crux of this post, the sad-clown stuff.
So, to begin, I'm currently injured. Sometime during or shortly after Shamrock, I developed Patellar Tendonitis and Runner's Knee. Not particularly serious injuries, but irritating. My right knee hurts quite a bit and gets fairly stiff when I do any significant exercise. Running is the worst for it, but even when I cycle it gets a bit sore. Anyway, I wasn't certain what was wrong with it until yesterday's ortho appointment. I was relieved to hear that it wouldn't incapacitate me, and that I could continue exercising as long as I used a brace, took a prescription anti-inflamatory, and perform some stretching exercises to strengthen supporting muscles and relieve inflamation. I did my first run in two weeks, four or five miles, yesterday. It was phenomenal. Slow, but phenomenal. I don't intend to go so long without running ever again. Not running was torture. Sadly, I might have to go without biking for a little bit.
Today started off pleasantly enough. It was a balmy forty something, probably closer to fifty in the sunshine, this morning. Hardly a cloud in the sky, and no wind. Perfect riding weather in my opinion. When I got to my instructor's house, there was hardly anyone there. Apparantly Tim is at a conference somewhere and just asked us to ride on our own, to keep in shape. I was a bit disappointed, because I'd wanted to talk with him about the pros and cons of touring with paniers versus hitching a trailer on back. Ohh yeah. So I bought my ticket to Vancouver last night! C2M is on, baby! But anyway; not having Tim there meant making up our own route, which was something most of us were uncomfortable doing, so I led.
That was all well and good, until we went over like four sets of train tracks. Didn't beef or anything, but the bike got really jostled. Somewhere down the line, my chain jumped and for some reason it jumped at a very severe angle. Maybe I was cross chaining when the chain dropped, but in any case, it got jammed. Bad. Like beyond my ability to fix on the road. Essentially, the chain is jammed between my smallest chainring and my right seat stay. It's twisted and bent, and I'm pretty sure it's dead. At least nothing's wrong with the frame. In either case, Jonas has been locked up on a ligh post downtown. With the way things are going, I'm really worried that he's gonna get stolen or something. Even though he basically can't even be wheeled away, and certainly not ridden away, because of the chain.
Hopefully a bike shop can perform some much needed surgery, and it won't cost too much!
Peace out, Hombres!
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