Monday BreakDown Ride Tracking
I wanted to get in at least 20 miles today so I decided wherever I went, I'd just turn around when the GPS recorded 10 miles gone by. The weather had a bit of overcast with a few rather dark clouds looming nearby and I hoped it wouldn't rain on me. Our favorite local Mexican restaurant has been closed for a few days with a sign saying it will reopen on the 21st, with a new name: Los Cuates.("The Guys" en Ingles)
N5DBB and I have a lunch date set for the 21st there, so I wanted to see if any progress or change had been made in the re-opening date. Thus my ride north on NM-14 taking me right by there so I could take a peek at the signs. The new Los Cuates sign is up but the closing dates still say "17-21 Aug" so it looks like we'll be dining elsewhere tomorrow. Oh Well.
I had a few head - winds today but chalked them up to cooling breeze. The sun did not come out in full force all day and that was OK by me. I was pleasantly surprised how soon the 10-mile mark came up so I rode a bit farther, then, realizing I was getting a bit hungry, turned the rig around.
I had spotted a nice shade tree just off the side of the road so I rode back to it to take a water and food break. AND rest up a bit too. After enjoying that shady area for maybe 10 minutes, I pedaled hard to get rolling on the paved road and..... Pop. No high gear available. My front ring was stuck in granny gear, fine if all I had was uphill grades all the way home. However, I was slightly over 10 miles from home and didn't want to spin so fast to go so slow all the way home. Remembering I had spare cables and tools in my pannier, I turned around again and whiz-pedaled back to the shade tree to perform the necessary surgery.
This is the first time I've broken the front shifter cable. I've never bought any spares, since the rear cable is the one that breaks once or twice a year, and since the rear cable is like 4 times as long as the front, I have just saved a couple of my broken rear cables for use elsewhere when a shorter cable is needed.
It's been maybe 6 months since I last replaced a cable so I had to fumble around a bit to get this project going. I also noticed my favorite multi-purpose combination screwdriver was not in the tool bag, which was a bummer. I've GOT to train myself to never "borrow" tools from the bike bag without promptly replacing them. Thankfully between my 2 Gerber belt mounted tools and the odds and ends and wrenches in the bike bag I was able to remove the old cable, measure it against one of the spare used cables in my kit, cut it a bit long for further trimming after installation, and get it replaced. While putzing around with the sprocket, chain, etc, I noticed the chain, brand new maybe a year ago, is now sloppy and loose. I guess I need to replace it again, especially since occasionally now it starts jumping gears under torque while in top (high) gear. BAH
This rig takes 3 normal length bike chains to make the single long chain needed for replacement. Not quite a fortune in cost but still a slight dent in the old budget.
So my return home was almost an hour later than expected. Glad I am that I had the necessary parts and tools to fix the ride so far out from civilization etc.
It started to sprinkle on me about 4 miles from home but then dried up. It felt quite pleasant but I wasn't overjoyed at the thought of getting soaked. Not much danger of that, since only about 20 drops hit me before it dried up again.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.8 Ending Voltage: 12.8
Lowest Temp 70 F Highest Temp: 85 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 24.82
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
5.8 MPH 9.0 MPH 35.5 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
4 hours 14 mins 2 hours 45 mins 1 hour 29 minutes
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