Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Tour of Tucson Training Update

Well, this has been a pretty frustrating month or so. I'm riding a fair amount, but not as much as I want to - I keep having problems with my bicycle. I feel like I've bought a brand new bike - one piece at a time. My latest problem came on Saturday's team training ride - I was struggling up a hill that was a bit steeper and longer than I expected, and when I went to shift into my granny gear, it wouldn't go! Talk about demoralizing. For the last climb of the day (and the only other one I needed the granny gear on), I actually stopped and moved my chain by hand. At least that got me up the hill, but I really shouldn't have to do that. I took the bike into the shop, and the limit stops on the front derailleur had somehow gotten worn out (they aren't normally something that wears out).

In the last 7 months and more than 6,000 miles of riding, I've replaced the following on the bike:

- 4 chains (2 due to normal wear and tear, one broke during the death ride, and one was replaced by the shop looking for another problem)
- rear cassette (although not because of wear and tear, but rather to get better climbing gears)
- wheels (the original equipment wheels wouldn't stay true)
- 3 sets of tires (normal wear items)
- 8 inner tubes (it would be less if I had the patience to patch them)
- 1 set of brake pads (normal wear items)
- saddle (comfort issues)
- frame and fork (the frame broke during the Death Ride)
- rear derailleur (broke during the death ride)
- cables - all replaced when the new frame was built up
- left brake and shifter lever (aka brifter) (trashed when I fell once)
- handle bars (comfort issue - the new ones have a flat top which I find more comfy)
- stem (the piece that connects the handle bars to the steering tube - another comfort issue - this moved the handle bars a bit closer to the saddle)
- middle chain ring - replaced looking for the source of a strange creaking noise
- and now the front derailleur - worn out but for no apparent reason

Yup - I've replaced almost the entire bike, piece by piece. The only things I haven't replace are the seat post, the right brifter, the cranks/bottom bracket, the brake calipers, the pedals and 2 chain rings. I can be hard on stuff, but this is ridiculous!

Anyway, the training for the Tucson ride is not as intense as the Death Ride training. We still go on long rides - last weekend we did a 40 miler - and do a fair amount of climbing (I suspect that's just because it is tough to find a ride that long with out climbing something!). It's a great team, and as always we're raising money for a great cause. My fund raising website is at:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntgsf/tntgsfJBucley

Anyway, no great pictures yet so I'll spare you that.

Keep on pedalling (to steal someone else's tag line!).

JB