Warning: this post is not intended to disparage anyone, but merely to take a good humored look at ourselves.
Strange things happen on our bike rides. It started with a wheel going into a drain grating, resulting in a puncture. It took four of us and half an hour to fix the problem. Which was to chuck the bike into the support van and look for someone who knew what to do.
Then not once, but twice, someone in our riding group fell when stopping at the end of our ride. And it happened almost at the very same spot. One moment, they were cruising along preparing to stop and next moment, they were on the ground. These two incidents didn't occur at the same time, but a few weeks apart.
And not to forget our rainy rides. The worst was the Changi coastal ride. It started just as we were going toward Selarang, and then it poured and we took cover. The rain abated and we started off, and it poured again. Finally we made a beeline for shelter, towels and coffee. We were called "pathetic" by a significant other.
How could we forget the time when a spoke broke and we spent 15 minutes trying to unstuck the wheel. Finally, somehow, we did, and J had to wobble for the next 25 km.
Not too long ago, a chain got derailed when climbing and shifting and it took 5 minutes to fix the problem. (Notice that we were getting better at fixing problems?)
Then this morning, it happened to me. We were doing good riding from Tampines towards Punggol. I felt a thud and something dropped off. I checked the lights, shifters, brakes and looked down a few times, but nothing seemed amissed. Several meters further on, when we came to a traffic light, I was slowing down and something felt totally wrong. Couldn't place it. Then IN told me that my pedal arm came off. Good thing it was lying just two feet away.
Apparently the nut came off (several km back, I felt a cranking sound at the traffic junction). We walked back to find the nut, but no luck in the poor light. That was the end of my ride. Took a taxi home and rejoined the gang at Simpang Bedok for breakfast and had a good laugh about it.
Wonder if anyone else had their pedal arms fall off? Or am I the only joker?
4 comments:
We have to take turn to be the joker....hahahaha
A bit lost here. =p
How to pedal with the pedal arm missing?
Good question, Jodan. The best I could tell was that the pedal arm was still in the socket after the nut fell off, and I could still cycle. But when I was decleating to stop, the arm came out and dropped off.
My friendly bike mechanic told me that this was the third case he'd seen. Apparently, the recommended pressure is insufficient.
Could also be the the third case that the same bike mechanic didn't fix the crank properly :).
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