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Monday, November 14, 2016

Emergency Mountain Bike Repair


Houston, we have a problem.


During a ride, my rear derailleur had a piece that bent, and chipped out a part of the hanger.  Nothing I could do to fix it... it wouldn't stay put with any force at all on it.  It's toast.

We had just started our ride, though, and missing a weekend of fall mountain biking wasn't an option.

So to salvage the day... we removed the rear derailleur (entire thing, including hanger).  Picked a gear that would get the job done for the day.  Shortened the chain to fit that gear perfectly... and converted the bike to a temporary single speed.

Look ma, no gears!

It worked out really, really well. With no tension it had to be pretty snug on the gear it was on - we had it very, very snug... maybe too snug, even, I noticed the wheel was being pulled a tad off center... but still worked!

As with any single speed, I was grinding at very low cadence sometimes, other times spinning like a gerbil in a cage... but it was solid and fine, even set a few PRs on Strava segments out there.


Thursday, November 10, 2016

Weight Weekly Check-in


Check-in
Starting Point: 209lbs
Last Week: 200lbs
This Week: 200lbs (-9lbs)
To Go: 20lbs

No progress.  Had a houseguest, which meant we went out a lot and ate/drank in celebration.  Funny how that's such a big thing with humans, eating and drinking as entertainment rather than just sustenance.  

Back on track now, though, lots of exercise this week, it's coming off again. 

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Weight Weekly Check-in


Check-in
Starting Point: 209lbs
Last Week: 200lbs (-9lbs)
To Go: 20lbs

... unfortunately I've slipped a lot over the weekend so when I check in this week's weight, it probably won't be good news... but still doing this thing!  Ya!