This evening’s ride was not an uneventful one. About 3 miles into the ride I noticed a piece of string or cord had wrapped around the rear cassette causing the gear shifting to get clogged around the 5th gear. I stopped and attempted to pry the strands out and in the process got greased from the chain. I got most of the string out and then went to a nearby McDonald’s to try and wash off some of the chain grease/lube. I found out that the hand soap in McDonald’s is not meant to remove chain lube but the napkins did remove most of it. After I continued on I then noticed that the string had gotten into the upper jockey wheel in the rear derailleur. With all of the lube problems I decided to go ahead with the ride and clean it out when I got home. I was running out of daylight from the first repair effort so I had to pick up the pace as best I could. Whenever I tried to revsrse pedal the jockey wheel would not turn and the chain would pull the derailleur backwards.

Just to top things off I forgot my cell phone so I could not call home to alert my wife of my delay. At the 1 mile mark I ran over a stone and I thought I would get a pinch flat but I did not. So this ride was full of suspense.

Weather was threatening rain and the clouds were heavy blocking out any hope of the sun giving me some extra time before dark. At least the 72 degree temperature and the light wind were positives. Tomorrow is a slight chance of rain with a high of 67 degrees. So I may or may not get to ride. My wife is making some small steps in her recovery thank goodness.

March mileage update:

• March miles 280.89
• YTD miles 806.07

3-29-2011 Ride Data and Map

3-29-2011 Home weather station

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