The Old Ride

I know nothing about bikes.

Nothing, that is, except how to ride one, how to keep the tires inflated and replace a tube, and how to put the chain back on if it falls off. Anything besides those simple maintenance tasks and I'm lost. I don't even know the proper name of some of the components of my road bike.

A couple of weeks ago, while I was on a long ride, my chain started rubbing against a part that was connected to the front shift mechanism of my bike (wait a second: let me look it up... ah, yes, the front derailleur... I should have known that). I pulled over, manually pulled on the derailleur until the chain was no longer rubbing, and continued.

But a short time later, the chain started rubbing again. I tried switching gears to the small chainring (yes, I had to look up chainring), and that seemed to help, so I continued on my merry way, only using the gears that would accommodate this chainring.

When I arrived home, I was able to move the front derailleur some more and, after circling around my street, shifting back and forth between the large and small chainring without issue, considered the problem solved.

A week ago, I went on another ride. I have a June challenge from Garmin to complete 400 kilometres over the month. Usually, that's not a difficult challenge because last year, I was easily riding at least 150 to 200 kilometres per week. But with our weather this month, with the rain and the gusting winds, I haven't been outside as often as I would like.

I try to keep active by riding on my spin bike, at home, when the weather is disagreeable, but spin rides don't count toward my Garmin challenge. I don't know why my Connect app won't let that happen.

My 56K ride.

Anyway, to make up for the lost time, I had planned to ride about 80K on this ride. But as I approached the 25K mark, my left pedal felt a bit loose, so I pulled over. As I tried to unclip my foot from the pedal, the entire left crank arm (checks Google... yup, that's what it's called) came off.

I almost did a Joe Biden.

Luckily, I carry some small tools with me so I was able to re-attach the arm and continue on my way. However, I only got another 11 kms into my ride when the crank arm felt loose again. I pulled over, in front of The Swan on the Rideau restaurant, and tightened the crank arm again.

My bike is 11 years old and I feared that metal fatigue might be setting in to various parts. I've ridden a lot over the past year or so: moreso than I had ridden in the previous 10 years, combined.

I shortened my ride to only 56K, deciding from The Swan to cycle straight home.

When I got home, I inspected the crank arm and could see no discernable cracks or signs of wear. I had some heavier-duty tools, was able to better-tighten the crank arm, and thought I might have solved the problem. I would go for another ride and see how my bike handled.

Last Friday, I had the day off because I work in Québec and it was Saint-Jean Baptist Day. It was a beautiful day to have off, as it was sunny and the winds were mild. I thought I would do my usual 40K loop, down to Kars and back, passing through Manotick. If my bike seemed fine, I thought I might go even further.

My 61K ride.

When I reached Kars, my bike felt fine and I felt great, so I thought I'd try a new route, continuing south, through Kars, all the way to the Baxter Conservation Area. From there, I took Dilworth Road to Fourth Line Road, up to North Gower, and then back to Kars, along Roger Stevens Drive, up Rideau Valley Drive to Manotick, and then home.

For the record, I don't like Dilworth or Fourth Line, south of North Gower. The pavement is in bad shape, with lots of potholes, and there's no paved shoulder. I won't ride it again, though I may ride to the Baxter Conservation Area, and then just turn around. My bike was shaken badly.

It was between Manotick and home that my crank arm came loose again. But this time, the chain also began to rub against the front derailleur, and my bike automatically shifted from the large chainring to the small. And, when I looked down to assess what was going on and try to shift back to the large chainring, the entire crankset seemed to be sliding out of the frame.

I left the chain in the small ring, and the bike seemed to like that, so I left it there. I was able to make it home in one piece after covering 61 kms.

I don't know anything about repairing bikes so I'll be taking it in to the store where I bought it. I've made an appointment and will be staying off it until it comes back to me, good as new.

In the meantime, I still need to get more than 90 kms under my belt by the end of Thursday, in order to meet my Garmin challenge. So I've dusted off my old bike, a hybrid bike. I've cleaned and oiled the chain. I've pumped up the tires. I've moved my lights, phone holder, and water-bottle cage from my road bike. I've given it a test ride around my block.

It's much heavier than my road bike. I sit higher and the handlebars are upright. It has shock absorbers in the front fork and in the seat stem, so it's a cushier ride. But I had used it the first time that I rode the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour and I had used it to cycle from Barrhaven to the Champlain Lookout, in Gatineau, and back.

It's a workhorse, so I'm hopeful that it's up to the task.

Wish me luck.