RAGBRAI Preparation #3

Today I finished my last RAGBRAI training ride. I won't be able to ride between now and the event because of work and an out-of-town trip. I hope I'm ready.

Here's a training summary for the year 2021 so far, according to Strava:

• 3020 total miles
• 1945 of those miles were virtual on Zwift
• 1075 of those miles were outdoors
• 15 round trips from Hunter Mill road to Purcellville via the W&OD trail added up to just under 900 miles
• 175 miles were split between trips to Occoquan and Prince William Forest Park

July 4 Fireworks over DC

I had so much fun last year that I did it again. The weather was wonderful (for July anyway) and we beat the crowds to the Potomac shore to pick our spot to watch the show.

Almost everything went right this time; no need for any preamble. Here are some of my favorite shots.

As usual, the first few shots are the only ones in which the Washington Monument is clear of smoke.

Fireworks over DC

Big Finale

Big Finale

After the show

RAGBRAI Preparation #2

 My training plan for RAGBRAI has worked out well so far. I’ve ridden several weekends in a row of 60 miles per day, 120 miles per weekend. At first, the Sunday rides and Mondays at work were tough. It’s still not easy, but it’s much easier.

Of course it couldn’t be that simple. This past Sunday I got out to Purcellville and then my bike started making an awful noise every time I coasted and I had intermittent issues with the chain staying in the selected gear.

I made it home and when I took the cassette off the hub it was apparent that the cassette was wobbling, meaning the hub was wobbling. The race that covers the bearings was mangled. I removed the hub and then removed the race and discovered that several ball bearings had escaped their installed location and in their absence the axle was no longer held in place, hence the wobbling hub and cassette. I couldn’t get the ball bearings back in place and I needed a new race.

I searched online for a replacement hub/axle assembly (they’re a unit on this wheel). No luck, except for a single supplier in Germany. I took the wheel to a bike shop, hoping they as a Specialized dealer could order a replacement or fix the old part. The part could not be repaired and it was no longer produced.

I had been considering upgrading my wheels; this incident forced me to actually do it. I bought a new pair of wheels. The shop transferred my old brake discs and tubes and tires to the new wheels.

I went on my first ride on the new wheels today. I like them, but the hub sounds a lot louder when I coast. The wheels produce more noise too, probably because of the spokes that are more like thin strips of metal than cylindrical in shape.

I have one last weekend to train before I leave for Iceland, and shortly after my return it’s time for RAGBRAI. And while it sucks that my wheel was irreparable, I consider myself lucky that this happened before my trip to Iowa. It would have been a devastating blow to get there and then have an unfixable mechanical failure while riding. It’s unlikely that I would have been able to easily find new wheels for my bike with its disc brakes and thru axles.