It started off well enough, my friend has a new bike she had yet to ride, an Electra Townie, and she wanted to ride to lunch, Its a gorgeous day so yeah lets go! And then she texts that the front wheel won't spin, no problem "we'll get it sorted" I text back and throw an extra tool or two in the barrel bag and off I go. The front wheel had been taken off to fit in the car and then put back on and between not being square in the drops and the brake housing having jumped its routing- the pads were clamped to the rim - no worries got it sorted with no sweat. Then we did a spin down the block and the seat was obviously too low and we discovered when she got off was twisting. I noticed they were using the old post and clamp type seat post like you would find on a vintage Schwinn Varsity, and so I tightened the bolts on the clamp, then raised the seat and tightened up the quick release seat post collar and we were off.
On the way to the pub there is a slight rise and she had the classic issue of waiting too late to shift to an easier gear and had to stop, so I turned around and stopped to see if help was needed. She got going again and since I was already stopped I walked to the top of the rise and then, well you know how I said I nailed the dismount, I might have lied about that. Has anyone ever told you that its not a good idea to do a "flying" start on your bike i.e you put one foot on a pedal, push off and then swing your leg over and mount up -like Tonto making a quick getaway. Well if you are a Clydesdale it really isn't a good idea...let just say I ended up on my back on the sidewalk and was glad I'd been wearing my helmet. After thinking about it I believe what happened was so much weight got put on the rear wheel that it flexed out of true and the tire came in contact, at low speed, against the chain-stay, which acted like an emergency brake, tossed me off the bike like a bucking bronco and landed me on the pavement. Mostly its just my pride that's hurt, but I have a few bumps and a bruises and a rear wheel now badly out of true. I have a feeling I will be a bit stiff and sore tomorrow as a further reminder not to get on my bike like a cowboy anymore.
 |
| tire kissin' the stay |
Its actually timely as I need to put the wheels from the Ritchey through the truing stand anyway so I can tackle the Passage rear wheel when I do that. I was thinking as I walked the bike home that I should have never written about crashing and I certainly should not have said anything about not personally crashing in a while, jinx city. I should have an update on the Ritchey soon, until then, Ride,Keep the rubber side down, Smile.Repeat,
No comments:
Post a Comment