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Old 06-05-22, 12:21 PM
  #372  
USAZorro
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Hardy, VA
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Bikes: Mostly English - predominantly Raleighs

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So yay? Today happens to be the day of the Roanoke Ironman 70.3. I heard about it on the local news this morning, and they said it was taking place in a park that's well away from where I normally venture, so I make a mental note to go out there next year and watch it. So fast forward about 90 minutes when I am in my car heading over to the greenway to see about putting in two passes of the 11.xx circuit that I am familiar with and about halfway there, traffic is absolutely crawling. Clearly something is up, and after getting maybe half a mile in 15 minutes, I see lights and a flashing sign off to the side of the road saying there is a bike race taking place and to expect delays. I get to a place where I can turn and take back roads to the greenway trailhead, and as I get there, I see it is roped off and there is a series of pavilions where people are cheering on and handing out drinks to runners.

Oh great! I was here less than 24 hours ago and there were no notices about any such thing. I'm plenty steamed, but since I'm here with the bike, I figure I might as well ride it a bit to give it a better shakedown. Well, long story short, I follow signs to another portion of the greenway where I haven't been before and follow it up a rather steep hill. I used the pause to say hello to the deer in someone's backyard and to raise the seat post about a half inch and to re-level the saddle and tighten down the saddle clamp. After walking up the hill, I gingerly go down the other side - negotiating switchbacks and bridges until I see this segment merges with a section I am familiar with. I have about a mile that I can ride before I need to turn around. I figure I'll do this a few times and then go back to the car.

At mile 3.0 or so, I'm at the turnaround, and I see people who are obviously Ironman competitors on the adjacent road who are not exactly blazing a trail to the finish. I realize I am definitely NOT going to be able to access the segment of the greenway that I had planned on today, and begin considering other options and also how to communicate to the organizers how deficient they were at both traffic control;and notifying the impacted community of trail users. I complete my first "circuit", and about a quarter of the way into my second, I attempt to nudge down the nose of my saddle which has shifted again despite really torquing down on the nuts. I hear a "pling" simultaneously with the dull sound of something else hitting the pavement. As I'm going no more than 6mph at that instant, I am able to stop immediately, and I see that the nose of the scavenged Brook B-17 is no more.




Another rider stops to ask if everything is all right, and I am feeling very surprisingly calm as I explain that it's an old saddle and that these things can happen. Since I'm already stopped, I take a couple pictures for posterity. This is Bumblebee at the scene of the second setback. The lighting is quite poor, and I can't say that I see that the saddle is essentially done.




Well, by this point, my inner warrior is trying to tell me that I can't let a small detail like that ruin my already-twice-ruined weekend. I remount and found that it really didn't present a significant problem - at least not under the sedate conditions I was operating under, On my next circuit, Bumblebee was able to overtake a Monarch, and then, when the gentleman who stopped to check on me was clearly surprised to see me riding still, I told him "it works fine if you sit on it the right way". He got a laugh... as did I, when making the turn-around the last two times, I saw Ironman stragglers on expensive bikes that Bumblebee and I could have put to the sword (figuratively).

Anyway, after four circuits of the hinterlands, I went back up and over the daunting hill (yes, I was walking for a bit), and returned to my car. After all was said and done, I managed 11.62 miles (11.79 overall), and topped out at a mind-numbing 15.2 mph. Now to figure out what to do about a replacement saddle, and get back out there again... when I'm not being impeded by a hoarde of tin men.
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Last edited by USAZorro; 06-05-22 at 12:30 PM.
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