Paths of glory!

School is mostly done for the summer now and I couldn't be happier with the extra time I have on my hands. I am back to riding almost every day, there are still some assignments lingering about here and there but nothing that I am worried about.

Last Tuesday I was out for a ride on the Madone and something crappy happened. I was riding the big ring and I was approaching a stop light so I started to shift into an easier gear so it would be easier to get going again. Something happened because the light turned green I put my food down on the pedal and heard grinding. The chain had come off the cassette and lodged itself between the cassette and the spokes, bummer. The only thing that I can think of is that maybe I back peddled just enough to cause the chain to come off. It cut some of the spokes up a bit which cut my ride short. I got home and looked closer at it and it was worse than I initially thought.

Wednesday was my day off so I got up had some breakfast and went to drop off the bike at the shop to get the spokes replaced. When I showed up I had a package waiting for me from Shimano, it was a set of Dura-Ace pedals with an extended spindle for my funky q-factor. I was stoked. I slapped them off and left the shop and headed home. I got home and made some lunch and started gathering some things together to go on a longer ride. I loaded up the Workaholic and headed for the Luce Line trail. It was a really fun ride. The trail was dry and there were a few places I almost washed out in, but I kept it upright. I went out to Watertown and then turned around and headed home before it got too dark and I would have to deal with the swarms of gnats. I ended up doing a little over 60 miles and it felt really good. It was my victory ride on the path of glory.

I went on a couple shorter rides around the lakes here since then but I have had some homework to do and it has been super busy this week at work which has kind of sapped some of my energy. I got the plastic bike back today, with my new pedals, and my new Sidi road shoes. The bike is all set to go and I am super excited to get out for a good ride tomorrow, it will be my first ride ever with road cleats and pedals.

I took a couple pictures on the Luce Line ride that I'll post below. Maybe I'll get some more good ones tomorrow. That's it for now!

Path of glory!

Thanks for the socks!

Great ending to a great day.