Broken Down

On Friday I was going to go for a ride with Joe Whitehair while diving over to the trail head my car was vibrating, giving off some strange smells and all round behaving like there was something wrong with it.  I had noticed the problem before but I though it was just because it was super cold on that occasion.  I didn’t want to risk diving up Hamburg Rd in that condition so I bailed on the ride and went back to my apartment.  I’ve got an appointment at L&B Auto Repair on Monday; hopefully it isn’t anything too serious.

I still had the itch to ride so I rode from my apartment.  I decided to take some back roads over toward watershed trails but I never got there.  As I hit a particularly steep section of Hamburg Rd. and was standing up pulling on the bars I notice that the front end of my bike was flexing way too much.  I stopped and noticed a crack going almost entirely around the down tube.  That explains why it had been making more creaking sounds than normal.

I decided at his point to turn around and go home but I was super paranoid that my frame would give way.  I was 7 miles from home and I didn’t want to walk so I rode my bike like it was made of glass (the thin type they make Christmas ornaments out of not the reinforced bulletproof type or the super thick type used for shark tanks at aquariums).  I could watch the crack on the side of my down tube open then close again slightly with every rotation of the cranks.  It was frightening but I made it home safe.