Sunday, August 22, 2010

You Never Know

Well, today's been a real bummer. I was looking so forward to today's ride only to experience a real sh!tty day. My schedule called for a 3h30 bike ride with a 1hr run after the bike.


Last night I prepped the bike and everything was ready and as soon as we got back from Church I jumped on the bike and was ready to roll. It was such an awesome day and being out on the road for the first time since Winter just gave me that extra motivation.


My schedule called for the entire brick session to be done at IM race pace and although I knew it was going to be hard I was looking forward to it.


But then disaster struck, I was nicely biking along and was maintaining the 250+ watts average the session called for. At that moment I was 1h15 into the session and about 40km's away from home.


I was really pushing it when I went up this hill( picture below) and then suddenly I just heard this snap sound and I had to be quick to get my foot out of the pedal as I was standing still. At first I thought the chain came of the ring but I haven't changed gears and then the bike came to a complete stop as the rear derailleur got tangled between the rear wheels spokes.

As I got off the bike I had a look and couldn't believe my eyes, the derailleur just broke out of the frame. If it was the derailleur it would have been bad but not as bad as a cracked frame.


I will take the bike to the bike shop tomorrow to see if they can claim from Cervelo as the bike is less than a year old otherwise I will be looking at someone who can weld aluminium, or a complete new frame very soon. Although the bike is carbon I saw that the part that's broken is aluminium and maybe it can be fixed as a last resort. At least the view from almost the top of the hill was great, as I waited 45 minutes for Kim to come and fetch me, thanks Kim.


As we got home I wasn't in the mood to do the 1hr run and it was suppose to be a Brick session. I just didn't feel like running an hour after I stopped cycling.


I also emailed my coach and asked her to reschedule my bike training this coming week or at least for the next two days as I don't know how long I'll be without a bike. I do have the mountain bike and will use that in the mean time, but no powertap workouts soon.


On a positive note I received my contact lenses from my new Optometrist and they are just great, Yesterday I had to double check/feel a few times as I couldn't even feel them in my eyes. Thanks Russell, amazing what a pleasure it is to have contacts when you have someone knowing what they do, helping you.

For those who can remember Russell is my friend who me and DJ delivered the VW Bus to in Upington about two months ago. He's an optometrist by trade and also an excellent Ironman athlete.

The best part for me is that he is more than a 1000km away from us but looking at the measurements they took of my eyes, he immediately noticed that the calculations were wrong when the previous optometrist ordered my lenses.


I will wear these lenses for a week or so and if they still feel as great as this weekend I will get him to order me some more.

11 comments:

  1. J, bummer about the derailer. It's got to be a defect, although you do hammer that thing with power pretty hard. Great pictures by the way, looks nice. I was thinking about you on my ride yesterday, thinking my fall is coming and your spring. Sounds like the coaching is high touch, nice. I am so curious to see how you're year goes, it sounds like the workouts are intense.

    B

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  2. Oh man, sorry about your bike, wishing you good luck and and a speedy fix!

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  3. Breaking News: Stemmet Rips Derailleur Off Bike! Not many people can say they've done that. Very impressive. As for Russell, I hope he still has the moustache? Best Tash by far at IMSA2010!!

    Good luck in getting the bike fixed.

    RR

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  4. Wow that is a bummer! I'm always glad I'm a runner only for now when I see someone with mechanical problems next to the road. Good luck with this.

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  5. What an accident, Johan, but great that you didn't fall and hurt yourself! I'm almost sure you'll get a new frame, but it sucks anyway. Good luck!

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  6. B
    Thanks, yes summer's on it's way, yeehaa. Coaching is great and yes go and get a power meter, you won't regret.

    FFS
    Thanks, I really hope so

    Rob
    Haha, yes it sounds awesome but won't trade that headline for the inconvenience I have now.
    Yes Russell stil has the tash

    Johann
    Funny I was thinking about that yesterday, wouldn't have this issues if I was runner.Thanks hope it will soon be sorted

    Carlos
    I really hope Cervelo can sort me out quickly. Yes I am so glad it happened on uphill otherwise it could have been nasty if I was going faster

    Johan

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  7. What a bummer about the bike, must be a warranty issue though and look on the bright side you should get a new frame. Trek replaced my Team Time Trial frame 3 times over 8 years for bottom bracket problems - in the end they gave me a "TTX SSL red carbon" top of the range. I just love it. Maybe it's time to upgrade to a Trek Speed Concept? Silly to keep wasting those valuable minutes using the Cervelo haha.

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  8. Johan - that sucks about your bike, glad you didn't get hurt though. Hope you can get it replaced, like everyone else said, it should be covered by a warranty I would think - if Cervelo doesn't let me know because I was going to buy one and won't if they screw you over on the derailler.

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  9. Simon
    Ha, getting a Trek, I want to be faster not slower. I really hope Cervelo can help or else I might just get a 2nd division bike like yours
    haha
    Johan

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  10. Mandy
    Thanks, yes it was a close call, trying to get youyr feet out of the pedals without some resistance can be tricky.
    will keep you posted on the situation but Cervelo is a big company, I am sure they will come to the party
    Johan

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  11. Man, you must be a beast on that bike to cause so much torque on the derailer to shear it right off!!!

    If you have to weld aluminum, take your time and interview a lot of people. Welding aluminum is very difficult.

    Good luck with the corporates and getting a new bike!

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