I decided to ride with the Rockwall "shaved leg" tri- gang today, (Jason, shop owner, on left)
and rode to the store by making my way to 66 at the bridge, crossing the bridge, then following Lakeshore all the way to within about a mile of I-30 where the store is. Eleven miles total, not bad, and a decent sidewalk the last busy mile.
Once again, it was a hammerfest (no Joey, but Ryan Lange, 20-something TTTT 200 mile participant was there), and I kept up with the three leaders at 22-30mph to the 20-mile turnaround stop, into some nasty winds. Got several comments about "Movin' pretty good today!"...
Oh, and about 10 miles in, we encountered Brenda Barnell, Val/Robin, and other LSR folks coming the other way, apparently finishing up a 200K... fun coincidence!! But I couldn't get a photo snapped...
At the 20 mile point, half wanted to go back fast, and half wanted to do a longer ride on a different route up into Collin County and back down 205, so I went with the different route choice, feeling like exploring. This route wound through back roads through Royse City and up to Lavon, and we were doing a more reasonable 18-20 mph conversational pace, with the occasional sprint.
Encountered several miles of really nasty chipseal into Lavon, and I started hearing an occasional clicking sound coming from the rear, like the DR was slightly off adjustment. Visual inspection didn't show anything, and making adjustments to the cable fine tuner didn't seem to help, so I kept riding. Around mile 40, I split off from the group to stop at my brother-in-laws to refill water (beer) and say hello, and watch the last 10 minutes of Cardinals/Eagles, then headed the final 10 miles home. The clicking was getting worse, and I decided it was possibly a broken or loose spoke -- but couldn't detect which one.
About a mile from home, I downshifted into 32T for a nasty hill, and apparently the chain went off the inside face, and jammed between the spokes and the gear. After 10 minutes of trying to unjam it, I gave up, and carried the bike up the hill. I knocked on the first door I came to, asked, "Can I leave my bike here for 15 minutes, while I go get my car?" and walked the rest of the way home, then went back for the bike. Glad it didn't happen 30 miles from home!!!
I'll be taking it to Plano Cycling tomorrow to get it unjammed, and have the DR looked at. And possibly replace some spokes that may have been damaged by the chain.
First significant mechanical issue I've had with the bike... I still wonder if something went out of adjustment on the DR...