After the cyclocross races I rode to the office and discovered that the new Holdrege St overpass is open! This connects the John Dietrich Trail to the Antelope Valley Trail. Taking it will eliminate over 8 blocks of riding on the streets during my work commute because the trails didn't connect until now.
Riding to the races and the office gave me 18.88 miles today on the Austro-Diamler.
I rode to work today. And this evening I rode with our boy to church then continued on to Van Dorn park to check out the cycle cross racers. Bike Pedalers paid for everyone to ride free tonight! How cool is that!?! They even had a bike mechanic on duty. Even if you don't race it's fun to go and watch, cheer on everyone, and visit with other cyclists. Today's miles = 22.1
I rode the Surly Cross Check loaner bike from Bike Pedalers to work today. I miss the snappy take-offs from stop lights that I had with my Felt. But I appreciate the comfort of the Cross Check over the bumps in the road.
After work I detoured to Van Dorn park to see area cyclocross racers train. They'll be at it on Wednesdays at 5:30 in the weeks to come, stop by and cheer them on. They got done and I headed home as the clouds opened up and the rain began. Today's miles = 22.7
10 months and 4757 miles on this bike.
This morning was gorgeous, but about 1/2 way to work my chain mysteriously jumped off the middle ring to the little ring. It continued to do that every time I was in low gears on the rear set. It was becoming a pain. No problem. Bike Pedalers gives a years worth of free tune-ups with a new bike purchase, and the Felt is only 10 months old. So after work I rode over to Bike Pedalers to have them adjust the front derailer and send me on my way.
Once they put it on the stand I pointed out the play in my bottom bracket, they opened it up to find my bearings were bad and that I'd wore a deep groove in the steal crank!
I also pointed out the cracks my Felt had developed where the rear drop outs connect to the carbon fiber seat stay. What began as a hairline paint crack eventually fatigued and separated clear through. The front fork also has some slight cracks in the carbon fiber, they haven't seemed to get worse like the ones in the back though.
Well, the wise folks at Bike Pedalers urged me to stop riding it until the frame could be replaced for safety reasons. Felt makes amazing bikes, and they guarantee their frames for as long as you own the bike.
I have plans to do lots of riding, and can't be with out a good bike for the 2 weeks or so it'll probably take to get a new frame, so, get this, Bike Pedalers graciously pulled a brand new bike off the floor and put my wheels, pedals, seat, etc on it for me to use till my new Felt frame comes in! Talk about service!
I have a LOT of love for my Felt. And hate to go without it for even a week or two. But, I'm thankful to have another quality bike to use in the meantime. Bike Pedalers has sold about a zillion Felts. And mine is the very first frame (besides shipping damaged ones) to ever need warrantied. I don't blame Felt. But, it'll be interesting to see what they warranty it with since 2009 was the last year they had the Z70. Hopefully they still have one laying around somewhere. If not, I hope I'll be as happy with the new frame set as I was with the Z70.
I still can't get over the great service Bike Pedalers is giving me. We've bought a lot of bikes (6) from them, but it's a true testimonial when you feel delighted with their service when you have a serious problem. There is a lot to be said for buying from a reputable local shop rather than used, on-line, or from a big box store. I've always liked Surly Cross Checks when I've tried them in the bike shop parking lots. But it'll be fun to see how I get along with it on some weekend rides and work commutes.
Stay tuned to see what happens.
