Decided this morning to do a bit of exploring on the Hillborne. Figured why not try to ride out to the Coon Rapids Regional Dam. Figured the round trip would be 40 to 50 miles. Unless I got lost or added to the ride. Both of which ended up happening.
The first part of the ride was fairly routine and easy. Through areas ridden before. Came to the dividing line between familiar and new territory. On the other side was a group of folks who were obviously touring. Not obviously lost, but a quick hail from them confirmed they were (sort of). Helped as best I could (sort of). Then offered them my copy of the local cycling map. One noted that the map seemed to be hard to get and they did not want to bother me. I pretty much insisted, knowing it wasn't that difficult to find a replacement. We parted ways with the tourists being very grateful about a map to supplement the directions they had. Headed on, but sans paper "security blanket". Actually, as the route planned was mostly bike paths, this did not prove a major problem. Except for one section where I did get lost and added about 2 miles. It was a nice lost, though. And discovered another route to take later. Eventually ended up at my destination. Decided to add the mileage and head back down the other side of the river. Good call. Came upon a group looking at an osprey nest. On high tension power lines. Was there to see the mother come back for a landing. Very impressive. After a few more stops (lunch and later picking up a map at Hiawatha Cyclery) headed home. Where luck changed. Parked the bike and waited for garage door to open. Big gust of wind came up. Knocking the Hillborne over on the drive side. Ouch. Heard an ugly crunch. Besides everything from the saddlebag strewn about, the rear derailer was at a bad angle. Like touching spokes. Not good. Then saw the rear hanger. Owie. At that point, tears did well up for a few seconds. Figured the frame was damaged beyond repair. Put bike away and headed inside to tell wife the bad news. Also to think. Five minutes or so later decided to head back out to assess the damage. Put the bike in the stand and, well, actually not so bad. Hmm. Maybe I could even "fix" it. Take rear derailer off. Grab 6mm wrench. Carefully insert in hole. Carefully exert pressure. Hanger bends back. To about the correct angle. Derailer back on. Shift. Thankfully friction. Everything seems to work. Adjustments still good. Probably not perfect. Hopefully good enough to ride for a week until I take it into the shop. Haven't done a ride on it yet. That will come tomorrow. Still too close to the "incident" to feel fully comfortable taking a ride tonight. A really serious scare. Have had bikes tip over before. Never had that happen. A few photos here: http://tinyurl.com/kubbdv Sorry about the length of this post. Hopefully talking about it will get me to worry about it a smidgen less. Eric Platt St. Paul, MN --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
