My Bike Eiffel is BACK!

I RODE MY TRI BIKE!!

On May 25th, I nearly crashed as my derailleur hanger broke and sent my entire derailleur into my spokes. They had trouble finding that bracket as it was a pseudo-custom bike made for a team (as I explained in this post). I got word about 3 weeks ago that they had the bracket and I should get the bike a week later (about 2 weeks ago). But I never heard from them and called at the end of last week. They were going to wrap it up the next day - I think the mechanic working on my bike went on vacation and they may have forgotten about it.

So I picked up my bike on Monday morning after not seeing it for the entire month of June! It had been 5.5 weeks! She looked good:

A new bottom bracket installed as well.


So clean!!




And most importantly: an EXTRA derailleur hanger so my bike's not worthless if it happens again!

It's the bike shop's belief that this is the LAST hanger like this in existence! So it's precious to me!

I went out for a ride yesterday. There was some GOOD NEWS and BAD NEWS.

The GOOD NEWS is that the bike rides like a dream. It's so quiet and smooth! My bike needed some regular maintenance, and after 5+ weeks in the shop, she rides great again.

The BAD NEWS is because I went with a cheaper derailleur, I can't get into my largest (easiest) rear gear. They warned me about that when I picked up my bike, but it turns out it's a BIT more annoying than I thought it was going to be. Climbing 2 hills on that ride usually have my in my granny gear, but that's no longer an option, so I'm pushing a bit harder. And I tend to stay in my large front chainring for 99% of the time unless I have to drop completely to my granny gear, but yesterday I learned I now have to use more of my small front chainring as losing my easiest gear while in my large front chainring is a bit of a problem for climbing some shorter or less intense climbs. (If that all made sense.)

I went out on a 30+ mile ride yesterday morning:

My "I wish I still had a granny gear" moments were around split 5 coming up from Water Street, and between splits 7 and 8 coming up Ramsey Hill. And the easiest gear in my large front chainring would be nice in many areas (that hill north of 494, crossing the Mississippi, climbing near Otto, and climbing into downtown to name a few).

I've been getting in some rides on my "commuter" bike and my mountain bike, but it was still clear from the start of yesterday's ride that I'd lost some bike fitness. I biked a bit hard (but not quite TEMPO pace) through 20 miles and held a 20.4 mph average. I suppose that's not TOO far off from a 20.7 mph average on a similar ride 2 months ago, but my legs felt pretty heavy right away. And my neck wasn't used to looking "up" from my aero position. So I have some work to do!!