Truncated

Broken parts........Gah!

Well, that wasn't the weekend I was looking for! (Apologies to "Star Wars") Yeah, the recon of the Guitar Ted Death Ride course didn't happen. That was the first bummer. Of course, the wet weather we had on Friday and into Saturday pretty much made that impossible. Then I got caught up doing things with the family instead, which isn't bad. Not at all, that was good.

So, I figured Sunday might be better. Given that it is Summer and all, the heat of the day and whatever winds we may have gotten might be enough to dry out the dirt to the point I might be able to get through. I chose a piece of the beginning of the route to check out and got going in the afternoon. It wasn't a bad day, really. Not too hot and there was zero wind. That was kind of weird. But then again, we are getting into the "dog days" of Summer when it can be this way.

Things were just starting out and going well until I noticed the water bottle on the right fork leg was bouncing around violently. I stopped to find out that I had finally experienced what many others have with their Salsa Cycles Nickless cages- a break. Dang it! It broke right at the weld at the base by the lower bolt, like I have heard most of these do when they break. Well, I thought about it and decided I needed to carry that bottle in my jersey pocket and leave the cage on there. Without any weight in it, I figured it would be able to ride things out until I got back to the house.

They say we are the Tall Corn State. There might be something to that. 

I remounted and started back up the road. Then I saw it. That weird wobble in a tire that signals imminent death of the casing.......well, at some near future point. I wasn't sure I was seeing it right, so I kept going and watched it to see if it would be getting worse. I went about two more miles before I was certain I was seeing something. I decided to stop at a turning point which would take me even further away from town and make a call.

When I stopped it was evident that the casing was coming apart and the tire wasn't going to live a lot longer.How much further could I get? Well, one choice was to just take a chance that it would hold up and I'd get the ride in. Or.......it would blow out on a descent at 30+ mph, I'd cartwheel into the ditch, and well..........yeah. It might not be quite that dramatic, but I didn't want to find out. I made the turn back into town. Truncated rides suck, but catastrophic tire failures suck worse.

I made it back just fine and the tire will be removed and disposed of. But I was bummed that I didn't get out more than I did. At least I got out to pedal some!