The Day After

The snow ride was awesome, tons of fun, but it did come with damage. I decided to ride my bike to work on Thursday after all the snow because I figured I would have better control of my bike than my car, wasn't sure how the roads would be after the sun went down again, and wrecking a bike is a lot easier to fix than wrecking a car. It was cold, but not too bad. I think it was in the 20's but the physical exertion warms me up pretty well. Less than a mile into my commute, I took a 90 degree turn onto a different road. I took it really wide trying not to make my turning angle too great but as I was running out of road I hit a nice slick patch of ice and went down. After sliding to a stop, I checked myself out. Because the road was completely iced over I didn't do any damage. My tights were still in tack and I wasn't even in any real pain. So, I got up and continued on into work.

It wasn't until later in the day when I finally put my bike in the stand and started to check it out that I realized something was wrong. I had wondered if all the snow and ice would cause any lasting problems for the drive train or brakes. It seems okay. But then as I was shifting the derailleur cage started rubbing the spokes. Damn it. As I inspected the derailleur, I found out my hanger was totally trashed. No use in even trying to straighten it out. Thankfully though as I dug through the hanger bin in the shop I found a used hanger that matched mine exactly. Score! So I figured my problem was fixed. My drive train should be back to normal. However, once I got the new hanger in place and the rear derailleur back on it became obvious that the cage was still greatly bent. So now if I'm in the little ring in the front and back, the cage rubs against the bike frame and the body of the derailleur itself. This isn't a popular gear for me so hopefully I'll be okay. I think I might try taking the derailleur off and bending the cage back but I doubt my shifter will ever be back to X.9 level. It was still pretty sketchy on my evening commute home.

I felt proud commuting to work on a day with such adverse weather. Granted the day turned out to be nice and most of the snow melted, but in the morning it was still bad; all the roads except Germantown Parkway were still iced over. And it was still cold all day. I need to get back into commuting to work more often. It just requires a few extra minutes for dressing and packing in the morning. The trip is very similar in time whether I ride or drive. Being on a bike gives me more flexibility out on the road.

Here comes the weekend. Oh what adventures and tales it will bring.