Wait… Did I Hit Something?

So, last night, about a mile-and-a-half into my ride, I thought I saw something shiny and small in the road, just in front of my tire. I heard this *fwipping* noise and I was sure that I had run over something and it had kicked up into my front wheel. I slowed down (okay, I was only doing around 13mph, but still…) and looked to see if I could see anything.

Nope…

So I did a quick survey of the wheel alignment against the frame of the bike. Everything seemed okay. Did a quick glance at my back wheel and nothing seemed to be flailing about back there, so, I figured everything was good and pedaled on.

Except, something felt off.

Another hundred or so feet, I stopped and did a much more thorough check of my front wheel. Spokes seemed okay. And since the noise seemed to have come from there (and not wanting to lose any more time) I got back on and got back to it.

The riding was a bit rougher this time. Peddling felt labored. I had to downshift. That didn’t help. Something…yep… something was definitely wrong.

I looked down at my read tire, comparing it to the frame. The tire was bowing. And i knew… I just knew…

I stopped, got off my bike, and looked at the rear-wheel. It took less than a second to see the offense.

I broke a spoke.

Every rotation, the rim would rub on the rear brake caliper, which was what was causing my issue.

Luckily, I was at a spot on my route where turning around wasn’t so bad. I was less than a mile from home, so at least I wasn’t at mile 5 or something. But, my ride was over.
The bike and I limped home. In one piece… minus a spoke.

Today, I dropped her off at the shop, but she won’t be ready until probably Monday. Guess I’m breaking out the back-up tonight. Gotta get the miles in, after all.

Just like that…

And just like that, I’m reminded about how cancer hits us. There we are, going about life, and something is off. Just like that. Except, it’s not as easy to fix as replacing a spoke or hopping on a back-up bike.

If only it were that easy.

Support my ride to find a cure by clicking HERE

 

 

Advertisement

Doubling Down Today…

This month, I am riding 150 miles in the Great Cycle Challenge to fight kids’ cancer!

And today is Kick Cancer’s Butt Day, where all donations will be boosted by supporters of the charity up to $500K – sponsor me today and your donation will be MATCHED!

Please support my challenge and let’s kick cancer’s butt together, your donation will be matched for TODAY ONLY!

http://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/ToddHenrichs/a

Why I’m Riding…

Today is my mom’s birthday. She would have been 69 this year. But cancer took her from me back in 2008. Over the years, cancer has taken a lot from me, but her death hits me the hardest.

Truth, it’s hard for me to deal with the loss of my mom, but I can’t even begin to imagine what parents go through when they lose a child.

Because of that, I ride to support finding a cure.

Happy birthday, mom.
Miss you.

If you would like to support my ride, you can do so by clicking HERE

p.s. I hate the way I look in this photo… so… LOL

Riding To Fight…

Cancer sucks.

It’s claimed the lives of my younger brother, mother, both of my wife’s parents, two uncles, and while I can’t confirm it at the moment, I’m pretty sure it was a major contributor in three of my grandparents death.

Last year was the first year I rode for Great Cycle Challenge and this year, I’m back at it. A little bolder, a little wiser, and really wanting to reach my goals to help these kids out because on average, 38 kids die from cancer every week and I want to see that number drop.

My goals are simple. By June 30th I will:

• Ride 150 miles
• Raise $500

If you’d like to help in the fight and you have a bike, go sign up and start raising and riding.

If you can’t ride, those kids (and me) could sure use your support.

If you’d like to support my goal, CLICK HERE.