So, they managed to fix my bike over lunch . . . I’m skeptical. The bike involuntarily shifted between the medium and small (easy) gear on the front. This is doubly bad. When it does it, the bike goes through a very jerky movement, and since I’m usually climbing a rough hill when this occurs, I lose momentum (and, considering my size, momentum is the only thing “helping” me as I climb a hill). Next, this also happens from the small gear — but there is no smaller gear to go to, so I lose the chain when it happens. Because of this, I’ve been avoiding shifting into front first gear (putting a chain back on is a pain in the butt). We’ll see if things are any better. This was “fixed” by adjusting the tension on front cables, we’ll see. Hopefully, this will also fix the slipping problem I’ve been having with the middle-front gear.
If nothing else, though, this issue has forced me into the big gear on front, which means heavier pedaling, which means more leg work.
It’s raining pretty good today, but it should stop sometime overnight — I’m hoping to bike into work tomorrow and Thursday — then we’re having our “Littles” overnight on Friday. I’m actually hoping to do a metric century with some monster hills on Saturday, just to get my legs in shape a week before the Tour de Cure. I’d start at the house, head up and over Waggoner’s Gap, head down 233 through and past Newville, finally turning onto Pine, going up (and down) King’s Gap before returning home. This is a hillier version of the tour, but should give me a good bit of confidence heading into the 31st.
