Ride Report 8/2

Partnered 35 miles in 3:10 (including emergency chain repair & break) on the Bianchi

To vary the scenery a little (and to hopefully avoid a headwind on the way home), we ride east on the residential streets off of American River Drive. To my dismay, there are quite a few short hills as well. On the first and steepest hill, the Bianchi skips in every gear I try. Hoping it is a derailleur malfunction, I try shifting chainrings and then going up and down every gear, but the chain still skips. I muddle through, trying not to put undue force on the pedals until we reach Bannister Park, where T fights with the link that has popped off the rivet on one side. While I act as a human kickstand, I mentally add a few more items that need to be bought on payday: a chain tool, a master link, tiny pliers, and a new chain for the bike frame I will be choosing on Saturday (even though I am assured that the repaired chain should be just fine).

We take the bike trail back, coasting down an awesome hill from Bannister Park. I practice drafting again for most of the way home and do fairly well if I do say so myself. Naturally, we still have a headwind. Just east of Hagan Park, a deer calmly crosses the bike path in front of us. We pick up another drafter around Hagan Park, and my (lack of) drafting skill fails to scare him off for the 7.5 miles he follows us. The time and distance fly by as I concentrate on maintaining drafting distance, and at one point I look at my computer and discover that I am going 19mph! We separate from our drafter at Sac State. I whine for a break after the stiff pace I just biked. After planning out a frame shopping session for Saturday, I get turned around as usual trying to find my way off campus and head home.