Biking

I biked into Rosslyn today, had a lovely visit and a cup of iced coffee with Esther, and biked back. The ride in took 57 minutes. The trip back, 2 hours.

2 hours?

Yep. I'd gone about 5 blocks when I heard a pop, stopped to check, and found that a spoke on the rear wheel had broken. The wheel was now so out of alignment that it wouldn't turn -- to say it rubbed against the seat stay (that's what it's called; look it up) does violence to the word "rub"; better to say it stuck on the seat stay. I carry an extra inner tube and a cannister of compressed air to deal with a flat tire when I bike, but I never thought to carry extra spokes, so there was nothing I could do except walk the bike to the nearest bike shop. (I thought I remembered seeing one a mile from where I was, and -- thank you,God -- it was there.)

Walking that bike a mile, while holding the rear wheel off the ground, was a pain. It impressed on me how heavy the bike is. I think I'll check the bike stores in town to see what a lighter one would cost. (I fear it will be north of $400.) Anyway, Big Wheels was able to fix my problem. $25 + $5 tip to replace 2 (not 1) broken spoke. While walking to the bike store, I thought that from now on I should carry extra spokes with me. However, the fact that it took the experienced bike mechanic 20 minutes or more to fix the problem in his shop, with all his equipment, suggests that my replacing a broken spoke on the trail with just an emergency spoke wrench might not be very practical. If it took him 20 minutes in his shop it would probably take me an hour or more on the trail. Maybe I should just pray that my spokes hold out.

So, walking to Big Wheels and waiting for the repair added a good bit of time to the trip back to Vienna. That doesn't account for all of the extra time, however. The hills were much more challenging on the way back than on the way in. I don't know why this is so, but it is. I was really huffing and puffing. And, the temperature was probably 10 or 15 degrees higher. I stopped several times to rest and drink water and three or four times to talk on the phone (including a wonderful conversation with Cassie, who was--unusually--able to take a few minutes away from work).

When I finally got home, I went over to Giant and bought some beer, brought it home, and quickly consumed way more calories than I burned on my ride.