Mile 95, Mile 96, Mile 97, Kablammie

Ok, I'm having really shitty luck on the bike lately. 6 weeks ago, I sliced a tire. The weekend after that, my boot on the tire blew out, I bent my rim, and got another flat. Last weekend, I broke a pedal. Yesterday was another mechanical issue, but this one was major.

I went on a ride with Mike, Charles, and Tiffany. It was way the hell up in Plugerville, but at least I'm riding with others. I was suppose to do a 4.5 hour ride with a 30min run. Instead, we did a 30min swim to start and then headed out on the bike. The bike was nice with nice roads, smooth pavement most of the way, and wide shoulders. After about 65 miles, we had to make a decision. Head back to the cars for 75 miles or go out and do 30 more miles. We did 30 more and tried to get in a century. I quickly started falling apart. My crotch was sore from the saddle and my legs were dead. I was also losing mental focus. Hey, this sounds like a bonk. I started taking in a lot of calories and about 15 minutes later, I was feeling better. I was definitely tired, but I kept pushing myself and I felt like I could keep it up.

We finally got back to our cars and it was Mile 96. Since we were so close to a century, we decided to head out to log a century for the day. Since I didn't have to run afterwards, I headed out pretty hard, but not too hard. The odometer clicked over Mile 97 and I kept riding. I was approaching a hill so I shifted to an easier gear. Click, KACHINK, SCREEEEEEEECHHHH, stop. My wheel had stopped spinning and I was going about 22mph at the time. I quickly stopped and I'm surprised that I didn't fall over, but I did have time to get unclipped.

I looked down and my derailleur and it was above my chainstay and between my seatstays and my seat tube. The chain was completely twisted up as well. My riding buddies came by and saw what happened to me. Charles turned around to get his truck. Luckily, I was only 1 mile from the cars, but I was pissed that I was 3 miles away from logging my first century ride.

I took the bike to ATC. The derailleur went into the spokes, broke off the derailleur hanger, broke at least 2 spokes, scratched the paint on the bike as well. The derailleur might be salvageable, but I need a new hanger and at least 2 spokes. They are going to try to rebuild the wheel by replacing the spokes that were damaged when the chain got stuck between the cogs and the spokes.

Now, I'm trying to figure out how this happened. I was in the 5th cog and shifted to the 4th cog. Then the derailleur went into the spokes. I wasn't in the biggest cog, but somehow the derailleur went into the spokes. I might have dropped the chain in the front but I doubt it. Who knows what the hell happened exactly but it fucked up my bike.

Well, I had a good training ride. It was my longest ride ever but I was fine. I had some comfort issues from being in the saddle so long and I had some minor chaffing issues. I also had some nutritional issues, but it was from not taking in enough calories. Towards the end, my stomach wasn't feeling great but it was barely noticeable.