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?