New Rider Classes

The third New Rider Class series for this summer has begun, and the first two have ended. Jenn held court for the third installment of the July/August series last night, and did a good job of showing the students some of the technical clothing they could consider to help extend their riding season from "fair weather" to downright ugly stuff.

After her presentation, we all went for a little bike ride. It's a familiar route to the volunteers, of course, that encompasses a bit of Cannons Lane, a bit of Dutchmans Lane by Bowman Field, some neighborhoods near Seneca Park, and so on. During the ride, I noticed a regular "thump, thump, thump" from my front wheel, and, sure enough, there was a spot on the tire where the carcass plies had apparently suffered cuts. Hoping the tire would get me home before dark, I went on with the student who was riding beside me. I noted too that Jenn was about a block behind me, also with a student.

However, after making a turn, I was eying my mirror to be sure Jenn saw the turn and didn't see her. My student and I stopped for a moment, and since I still didn't see Jenn and her student, I opted to turn around and see what was what. I backtracked about two blocks, to find Jenn trying to get her chain unstuck from between the cassette and the spokes. I pulled out the tool box I was carrying for the class (trailers are wonderful things), hoping beyond hope that I had cassette tools with me, only to find that I did not. After toying with her bike for a moment, I told her to take my bike and the two students back to the parking lot, then deal with me as appropriate. I had water, I had a fairly safe place to hang out, I was good.

Long story short, Jenn had to go home and get the truck and come fetch me, her bike and the trailer she had been pulling. Once we got home, I was able to remove the cassette from the wheel, untangle the chain, inspect things, and reassemble the bike correctly. Two spokes will probably have to be replaced soon, but nothing else shows any real damage.

Of course, once I fixed her bike, I got to "re-tire" the front end of mine. I'm a little bummed that this tire got cut this way--it had over eight thousand miles on it, perhaps more than ten thousand, and there was still tread life left. The new tire has a bit taller profile, so I have to recalibrate the cyclometer by what appears to be four percent based on observations during my commute today.

I'm nearing to five thousand miles for 2011 YTD. This is a personal record for this early in the season. I'm likely to continue to set personal records on a daily basis for the remainder of the year.