59 miles / 2245 total
Some days just feel easy. Todays riding really flew by. I started flag a bit 20 miles from the intended campsite of Nickerson, so I decided to try putting some tunes on. I've worked out that if I plug my phone into the dynohub to charge, I actually don't loose any charge if I have my phone playing music, as long as the screen isn't on. I can see this being very useful through Kansas. Better than that, Jim has a little Bluetooth speaker he's not currently using which fits perfectly in the side pocket of my barbag, so I can really have it blaring out as I cycle along (don't worry, there's so little traffic, and I'm playing it out loud, no headphones)
I've been getting really frustrated with the front derailleur on my bike, I just couldn't get it tuned up so it wouldn't rub. I was getting annoyed because I know I can do these kind of jobs, but I just couldn't seem get it sorted. So when I was riding along, listening to chain grinding on the derailleur, I thought I saw my chain wobbling around, which made me think that I'd somehow bent a chainring. This would have explained why I couldn't get it tuned up. Oh no, to my horror, I realized that all my chainrings were wobbling around. Of the 4 bolts that hold my chainrings together, 1 was loose-ish, 2 were very loose and 1 was completely missing. So I tightened up the ones that were left, and checked the maps for bikeshops. The choices were, a 12 mile round trip detour into Hutchinson, or cycle 240 miles to the next one on route. The choice was made easier by the fact that Hutchinson had a bike hostel at a church, which has air conditioning. That definitely makes up for the extra miles! They sorted out the chainring bolt, checked for damage to the chainrings and did a full clean up of my drivetrain for $25. Bargain, as I was still listening to the grit from the KATY trail grinding in my chain, even after attempting to clean it myself.
I've been getting really frustrated with the front derailleur on my bike, I just couldn't get it tuned up so it wouldn't rub. I was getting annoyed because I know I can do these kind of jobs, but I just couldn't seem get it sorted. So when I was riding along, listening to chain grinding on the derailleur, I thought I saw my chain wobbling around, which made me think that I'd somehow bent a chainring. This would have explained why I couldn't get it tuned up. Oh no, to my horror, I realized that all my chainrings were wobbling around. Of the 4 bolts that hold my chainrings together, 1 was loose-ish, 2 were very loose and 1 was completely missing. So I tightened up the ones that were left, and checked the maps for bikeshops. The choices were, a 12 mile round trip detour into Hutchinson, or cycle 240 miles to the next one on route. The choice was made easier by the fact that Hutchinson had a bike hostel at a church, which has air conditioning. That definitely makes up for the extra miles! They sorted out the chainring bolt, checked for damage to the chainrings and did a full clean up of my drivetrain for $25. Bargain, as I was still listening to the grit from the KATY trail grinding in my chain, even after attempting to clean it myself.