Broken Seat Bolt

I had a new experience this weekend. Knute and I were out riding Saturday morning going to Homer Lake and back. And on our way back, as we were riding down a newly oil and chipped road, the bolt holding my seat snapped. After collecting most of the parts, and calling Jeanne, we road back to Homer Lake Road and I waited for my ride.

I thought that buying a new bolt would solve my problem. How silly of me.

I first went to the bike store where I bought the bike. With parts in hand, they looked for a bolt. When they couldn't find one, they offered to order one for me. I knew that would be several weeks before I had a bolt, so I suggested I would check the competitors in town to see if I might get a bolt from them. So I went to the nearby competitor. They spent a lot of time trying to find the correct bolt (after commenting that my bolt was smaller than normal). So although they couldn't find a compatible small bolt, they came up with all the parts I should need to use the bigger bolt type. I went home happy.

However, what we both failed to remember was that the hole in the seat post was at the smaller 7mm size, not the new 8mm components I now had. Back in the car to go to the closer bike store to see if they might have the 7mm bolt I needed. They didn't either, but they suggested I go to Do It Best Hardware and simply buy an appropriate bolt.

You all know the drawer after drawer of nuts and bolts the hardware stores have. First recognize that most of those drawers of stuff are standard, not metric. Of the few metric drawers, most will have 2-4-6-8mm stuff, but not 7mm. Only one drawer in that entire isle of nuts and bolts contained 7mm bolts. I bought one that was estimated to be the length of the one I broke.

It turned out to be too short.

Rather than returning to Do It Best, I thought I'd try my local True Value. They had the longer bolt and it appears to be working. I have it installed and have ridden a few miles to make sure I had the seat adjusted correctly. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Oh, and so I went back to my original store to have them order the proper bolt so that I could ultimately replace the one from the hardware store. After spending much time on the computer looking at his parts lists, it seems like we can't order just the bolt. I will need to buy an entire new seat post to get the bolt I need.

A $25 seat post for a $0.75 bolt.

Riding to SD

In just a month, I will be riding in W.R.A.T.H., the MS150 ride in Rapid City, SD. I have my hotel reservations and have been training all summer. But I recently discovered that what they call "hills," this flatlander might call a mountain. There are three routes to choose from on Saturday - 27, 67, 99 miles. For the past several years, I have been doing the century ride on Saturday. But this particular route has a climb of 8605' at about mile 80. That just isn't very nice. The 67 mile route climbs only 6575', peaking at about mile 46. I am thinking I will take the shorter of the two. The return trip on Sunday (75 miles) only climbs to 6302'.

Where can I find some hills to train on in Champaign County?

Cape Cod Getaway June 27-28

Kevin and I did our first MS ride of the summer last weekend. The whole family rode out to Boston with me (to visit with family, not to join me on the ride!). We took two days to get there, staying in Erie both coming and going. We arrived at the Chanoux house on Thursday evening and had a nice relaxing day on Friday.

Early on Saturday, Jeanne and I drove down to pick up Kevin at his hotel. We then drove down to Quincy to the start line. There were over 2000 riders in this ride. Saturday was a gorgeous day - 74 degrees and sunny. Those living in the Boston area told us it was the nicest day they had had yet in 2009.

Every year I try to figure out what is the craziest, newest, or weirdest thing. This year it was the bicycle rickshaw riders. Downtown Boston has bicycle-powered rickshaws that taxi people around the city. There were four of these vehicles on the ride with about 15 drivers. They would periodically switch off during the day. They rode the entire 150 miles!

Saturday was a lovely day. Partly along the ocean and inlets of southern Massachusetts wandering through small quaint New England towns. Kevin and I rode together the first 42 miles, then I split off to do the century while he set off to finish his 75 miles. He finished about 1:15, but I didn't finish until about 3:00. However, that gave Kevin time to find our stuff, set up the tent, set up my cot and check out the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. What a guy, huh?

Illinois Marathon

I had a great experience on Saturday - I rode escort for the inaugural Illinois Marathon. I had never participated in any type of marathon before, so it was a brand new opportunity for me. I really didn't know what to expect.

It was a lot of fun. Anybody can do this. It is a leisurely ride. We started out about a 1/2 mile ahead of the runners, and joined in about a minute apart. Our job was to ride shotgun aiding any runner that needed help. It was an easy job. I joined early in the throng of runners so that I was nearer the front of the race. I knew those runners would keep a better pace so that riding would be easier.

For a couple of days before the ride, I was trying to figure out which bike to ride and finally settled on the computer bike. It was the right choice. Because the ride was so leisurely, it was easier to sit upright than to hang over the handle bars. Also, with toe clips, it was easier to get out of the pedals quickly.

I will certainly plan on doing it again next year. It was a great experience.

Photo Gallery from the News-Gazette.

March Rides

I did get to ride on Saturday. Riding this time of year reminds me what I frequently say, "What we lack in hills in central IL, we make up for in wind." Spring is a windy time in central IL. Until the corn gets planted and grow up to block it for us, it is windy riding in this part of the world. And it was good I got out on Saturday. Yesterday afternoon I checked the Weather Channel for local information where it reported winds out of the west at 38 mph, gusting to 56 mph! In fact, much of campus was without power for about four hours yesterday. I guess it put a cramp in some students studying plans for the afternoon.

Looking forward to spring

I think I can say, for me, the biking season is done. I haven't even ridden to work in the last week. Once it gets to the point where the daily high isn't going to get above freezing, I abandon the bike. Taking the bus is too convenient, although yesterday I missed the bus by 50' so I ended up walking to work. I thought about going back after the bike, but that would have meant change shoes and the coat, so I didn't.

Those that are still out biking to the office or class need to be sure they have adequate lights on their bikes. I have seen a lot of bikers who have little or no lights on themselves or the bike. That is just foolish and dangerous. Even stupid. My goal, and it should be the goal of every biker, is to be seen on the road. When I do ride at this time of year when it gets dark so early, I have six lights on my bike and I wear a reflective vest. I want to be seen!

Looking forward to spring.

MS-150 Bike to Jack and Back

I just returned yesterday from Franklin, TN and the MS Ride "Bike to Jack and Back." They have hills in Tennessee! Lots of hills. Being a flat lands rider, it is a shock to the legs to ride all those hills.

The Long Route (75 miles) on Saturday took from the Page High School left to the Peytonville-Trinity Road and then to highway 431 for a short jog and then for a bit on Bethesda Road. After our first stop at the Bethesda Market (13.4 miles) we veered onto Pulltight Road and got to enjoy the biggest climb of the weekend. As mountains go, this was a little one; according to Google Maps, it looks like we only climbed about 200 feet, but we did that in about 1/2 mile. It was a hard climb. Kevin has pictures from the top as well as me when I reached the top. Both are worth seeing. When I get them from him, maybe I'll add them to this blog.

Nothing the rest of the day compared to that climb. There were lots of additional hills to work the muscles, but nothing compared to Pulltight. Everyone that rode the 75 talked about Pulltight on Saturday night. Please note that on the ride down from Pulltight, I hit 42 mph without pedaling. And the downhill was probably twice as long as the uphill. Fortunately, on Sunday, we took a different route so we didn't have to encounter Pulltight again.