No not me (although by the end of the week I sometimes can be). This time it’s the large chainring that has reached it’s end. After getting the new chain and cassette fitted I was eager to see how it handled this morning. So setting off I was a little surprised when the chain fell off. Not to worry I thought, maybe it wasn’t set correctly, so I fitted it again and set off more carefully. However, after building up some momentum I applied some more power only to hear a crunching sound and no increase in speed.
Oh no, I realised then that the chainring must be spent and wouldn’t work with the new chain. There was nothing for it but to continue in the small ring for the day. The bike was running fine in this setup, it just meant that at times my legs struggled to keep up with the revs required at speed.
It was a mild morning with little wind so I didn’t mind taking it easy. However, at about 10 miles into the journey I could hear the tell-tale rumble of a JCB rolling up behind me. Now normally this would be a welcome sound as you can tuck in behind it and cruise at along 25mph exerting very little energy. With only my small chainring I was torn over what to do.
The digger breezed past me, my inner drive burst to the surface and I made chase. The revs started building up and before I knew I knew it I was spinning at 135 rpm and slowly reeling the digger in. With my heart pounding and eyes bursting I finally made contact and tucked in behind.
It still wasn’t plain sailing as I had to maintain 125 rpm to keep up. After a few miles the digger peeled off and I breathed a sigh of relief, before completing the ride at a more leisurely pace.
The ride home wasn’t too bad in the small ring as the wind was picking up so I didn’t really need the speed very often.
One of my friends saw the problems I had on my ride sharing app (strava) and said he had a spare chainset I could borrow. I headed over in the evening and he fitted it for me then made me a great coffee. Hopefully tomorrow will be less eventful now!
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Dave Easton
Adam D