These rides have a way of turning into epic adventures, and this one was no exception. There were six riders on this permanent brevet. We started the ride in Princeton, at 7:00 am. I got to riding along, talking to Peggy, and the next time I looked around, there was no one else behind us. The crosswinds were already pretty gusty, even early, but we made decent time to the first control, and before we were ready to leave, the rest of the group arrived.  
 
At Ladonia (which is home to one of the friendliest Deputy Sheriffs I've ever met), we turned north, and had a good tailwind the rest of the way to Honey Grove, the turnaround point. Peggy said she wasn't feeling her strongest, and I had to admit I wasn't either, so we didn't really try to fly down the road while we had the tailwind. We just pedaled a comfortable pace.
 
At the Honey Grove control, John Droese pulled in just a few minutes behind us, saying he would keep his stop short, and wanted to join us. John is new to LSR, but is a strong rider. Before we left, the rest of the group arrived, so they were still just a short distance behind us. By then, the winds had to be blowing 30 mph, and the 12 miles straight south back to Ladonia were brutal. That stretch isn't hilly, but it's so open it really catches the wind.
 
After we left the next control at mile 95, it sprinkled lightly for a few minutes, but that was all. The 6.4 mile stretch from Lane to Merit is straight against the wind, with some tough hills, and that was one of the hardest stretches I've ridden in a while. My legs were toast by the time we turned west again.
 
With 15 miles to go, my rear derailler shifting cable broke. This instantly clunked the chain into the 11 tooth gear. This gives you a 3 speed bike, and you ain't going to like the gears you have. The 3 gears are high, higher, and highest. It had been progressively getting darker outside, and of course it chose this time to start sprinkling again. I don't know of a quick fix for this problem (if you do, this would be a good place to post it), so, knowing the skys could open up at any minute, I decided the best approach might be to keep going, doing my best to keep enough speed to get over the hills. I can tell you that I do not recommend trying to climb a tough hill at 9 mph with a 50 cadence, especially when your legs are already fried. By picking up my speed to try and keep going, I eventually lost sight of Peggy, and of course the minute I did, she broke down.
 
I knew I would eventually get stopped by a hill, so John said he would go back for Peggy. Sure enough, after walking my bike up a steep hill, John and Peggy showed up, and we spent a few minutes trying to do a fix to get me in a lower gear. John pulled the cable while I pedaled to get the bike into a lower gear, then we tied the cable. It did not work. As soon as I took off, it clicked into the 11 tooth gear again. I decided to keep going. I only had to walk one more hill, but I did struggle mightily on several. The 9 mph with a 50 cadence seemed to be my limit. If I fell below that, I had to stop. But, I sat right on the 50 cadence on several hills, my legs boiling in hot oil.
 
After my cable troubles started, I was so intent on just getting in that I neglected to keep drinking my carb drink, and I paid the price for that. As soon as I pulled in the parking lot, I bonked, and could hardly stand. A few minutes of sitting in my truck downing sugar made me feel much better (thanks for the Herseys chocolate, Peggy), but my legs were so fried, they looked like this:  
 

 
Well, maybe they didn't look like that, but they FELT that way. I ended up finishing in ~10 hours. Mileage was 125.6. On the bike time was 8:21, for a 15.0 average. Total climbing was 3958 feet. The wind made it feel like more.

Quote from Kwijybow on Dec 1^st, 2007, 9:41pm:

 
Good fix idea, Nelson! That set screw probably doesn't have enough travel to get you too many teeth over, but even a few would help. A lot! I need to remember that....

It broke somewhere near the shifter. I haven't disassembled it yet to see exactly where.

Wow!  That was an ordeal!  I, on the other other hand, slept till noon.  Which was a good thing, since I feel much better now.  I didn't realize thgat I was still sick.  I wouldn't have amde it I don't think.

Quote from aikigreg on Dec 2^nd, 2007, 1:21pm:

 
Glad you're feeling better. I didn't even ride & I was up at 5:00am for taxi service.

BWAHAHAHahahaaaaaaaa...   The things we do for fun......!!!!!!  
 
Very sorry about your mechanical issues, Bud!  That had to be hell trying to do those last climbs in "11"...
 
Congrats on finishing, y'all!!!

Quote from Bud_Bent on Dec 3^rd, 2007, 8:35am:

 
 
Bud,we just got back from PCF,Peggy had bent 1 or 2 cogs on her cassette. So the SRAM cassette was replaced with a Shimano cassette(she went from mountain bike to road bike cassette). The cables,chain(no wear to speak of),& chain ring were all in good shape. Good as new.

Lesson #196 Gear down sooner so as not to bend your cogs.I have so much to learn .Nelson thanks for hosting the ride, Ray it was nice to see you again. I enjoyed meeting George and John, very nice guys.  
 
Nelson, I emailed George about my card I hope it is something I can fix. I would like the ride to count.  
 
 Bud thanks for riding with me on Saturday. I don't think I would want to ride one those long rides without  the support from the other riders.I can change a flat tire (kind of)  but that is about it when it comes to bike issues.
 
  Saturday, I was not feeling very strong .I hope I didn't hold you back too much. This was one o f the hardest rides I've done to date .I felt that we battled the wind no matter which way we turned. I thought that the cross wind was almost as difficult as the head wind. I had one gust of wind that blew me off the road onto the shoulder.The wind took its toll on my legs I had nothing to give towards the end.Bud ,you are on tough rider I don't know how you were able to finish under those conditions.  
 
Steve and I had tickets to a hockey game at 7:30 pm on Saturday, We finished the ride at 5pm. Left the parking lot at 6pm, home by 6:30. Showered and at game by 7:15 no time to eat or rest. We were sitting with some friends and I hear laughing around me so I open my eye to see that everyone is laughing at me for sleeping through the game. Our team was loosing in the second period , Steve and our friends took pity on me , and we left the game early to get something to eat.What a day, What a great day!!!!!!  
                             Peggy

 Peggy I'm certain it will be easy to fix, if it isn't already.  After all the route owner was on the ride with us, so we shouldn't have any issues.
Boy bending cogs!  Pretty sure I haven't ever had that problem!  What size cassette did you put on there.  After the 600K I came home and switched out the 12-28 that was on the Corsa stock for my MTB 11-34.  Had to switch the longer cage derailleur over as well.  That gave me a 34/34 low which is nice at the end of a long ride with a big climb like Cherry Pie Hill.  I got pretty lucky with the Tour Easy mechanically.  Found I had a splitting sidewall on the rear tire that was on there.  I had already ordered some replacements (Schwalbe Kojaks) but they probably won't be in for another week or so.  Tried a 700x38C old commuter tire I had in the garage to get to work this morning, but its really too wide with the fender, and by the trip home it was rubbing pretty badly.  I have a 700x28C that I guess I'll temporarily put on there tonight.  
 
Greg glad to see the 11 joke!  was thinking about that one earlier!
 
Take Care,
Nelson.

Hi Steve,
 
  The only real difference besides cosmetics/marketing is the range.  MTB tends to be wider, whereas road cassettes tend to be more tightly spaced.  Sounds like you went in the right direction for randoneuring, never hurts to have a nice low gear.  
 
Take Care,
Nelson.

Wait a minnit... Peggy BENT CASSETTE COGS??????   Even I've never done that -- Good lord, somebody tell John Schlitter...  

Peggy,
 
Exactly what brand of Wheaties are you eating?

Thanks for all that  [.I'm just learning how to ride and making mistakes along the way. No Wheaties for me banana sandwich on raisin bread.  
 Greg sound like a new challenge to me . I'm willing to try it. Is it a speed event or endurance event? How do we train for it.  
                                                              Peggy

Hi Ray,
 
  I'm not sure the engine is good for any turn of speed this month.
But I have the route I'm going to submit for those who want to set a best.
 
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Personel-Best-203K
 
Its going to be a reversible 203K permanent with controls at each end.  Mostly E-W.  There is a steady rise in elevation from the E-W, so I'm expecting the E-W will likely be the fastest direction (downhill on the way back, more likely to have slight tailwind).  I have the cue built.  Gotta do the card, and I'd like to submit it soon. There are stores along the way I'll note, but since its almost dead straight, I'm going to try to only have the 2 end point controls.
 
Take Care,
Nelson.
 

Quote from Kwijybow on Dec 5^th, 2007, 11:00am:

 
It would be fun to pick a day when a front was coming in and ride the west to east half, southwest wind, then west wind, then northwest wind. You'd be flying!

Just a quick note about cassettes, there are 2 versions of SRAM's 11-34 cassette, a road version that has most of its 9 cogs in the upper end (up to the 11 tooth cog) and has much bigger gaps in the lower end of the cassette. The MTB cassette has the gaps between the cogs even from the 11 all the way to the 34 tooth cog. I have heard on other fora that most 'bent pilots prefer the MTB version as we use the whole range all the time instead of the typical road rider using the cassette in combination with a compact crank to get triple range without having to carry the extra chainring and the less reliable triple front derailler (just paraphrasing what others have said, my triple derailler works just like my old double derailler).
 
Opus

Quote from Bud_Bent on Dec 5^th, 2007, 9:02pm:

 
 
Good to know because I'm taking my Strada over to PCF tomorrow to have the cassette replaced(3,600+ miles) & have the cables checked,cranks changed(maybe??),etc...

Quote from Bud_Bent on Dec 6^th, 2007, 8:20pm:

 
I had a new cassette installed. PCF bike tech said there was some pretty good wear on the teeth(none bent like Peggy's. I could have gotten another 500 miles out of the current cassette,but since the bike was already there...). Bud,I did have a rear derailer cable that was corroded. New cable ,brake checked & cables lubed & everything is good. I too went with the Shimano Ultegra 12-27 cassette.

The cable broke at the shifter end? Is that location for a cable break pretty unusual?

It seems its always an end with mine, usually the end that broke on Bud's, near the shifter, but I've seen them break at the end near the crimp on the derailleur as well.  They are small so I always carry a spare now, just change them when they break (which isn't very often), need to pick up a spare brake cable though, as I stole my spare a while back for some project. I know about the derailleur set screw trick from having done it myself in the past (I didn't carry no spares in the eighties, that would've weighed me down!)  Funny how much I cared about bike weight when I myself weighed about a bike and half less than I do know!
 
Take Care,
Nelson.