I break things

Six weeks, three major mechanicals on three different bikes. Ouch. Starting to wonder if my luck is that bad, I ride that hard, or I just ride so much, this is normal. Either way, starting to feel a little down on my luck.

Hmmm … can anyone see what is slightly off with this photo?

Yes, I know I probably ride my commuter bike a little too much like I ride my mountain bike – forgetting it doesn’t have suspension or a frame and wheel set designed to take hits. I do frequently forget that in addition to the bike and pedal-assist rear hub being a little heavier than usual, I’m also typically carrying at least 10 extra pounds of weight in my pannier bags.

Nonetheless, I was still majorly bummed when after giving the pedals some tough love to crank up a hill along my commute, I heard a strange clanking noise and pulled over to find one of my rear spokes broken. O dear. Typically I would have wrapped it around another spoke, but I wasn’t quite sure if that would damage the integrity of the other spokes, given the unique construction of the rear wheel on my Ride+, so I unscrewed it from the rim, tucked it in my bag and carried on my way home, riding a bit more conservatively (that lasted only until I reached the hill on the Custis trail up from Key Bridge, where I found it necessary to kick up the Ride+ and pass some roadies 🙂 oops!)

Ouch … spokes aren’t supposed to do that – but an easy fix hopefully!

Hopefully an easy fix – my bike now has a date with the mechanics at The Bike Lane 🙂 And in the meantime – well, I’ll try not to break any more bikes, but I’m not going to stop riding by any means!