Unlike Wednesday's swim, I joined the group at Meadowbrook this morning. They have a nice 6 lane, 50m indoor pool and in the summer, they open a massive 10-lane outdoor pool as well. Today's swim was mostly composed of varying sets of 300's for a total of about 2400 yds. I guess things went well for about half of the workout, but as is typically the case, I was seriously getting dropped near the end. Fortunately, I was able to hold on until our hour was up, so with my swim in the books and a bagel and some Gatorade in my stomach, I went to meet my new-found riding group.
This would be my first real ride since I've been to Baltimore, so I was really looking forward to riding on the quiet country roads in Baltimore county that I've heard so much about. The ride began on time and I quickly realized that a tri-bike is not the best for riding in these parts. Unlike Chicago, where everything is pancake flat, the roads here are more like a rollercoaster. I hear that Louisville has a similar terrain, so I guess this will be the proper place to prepare for the big day in August. I was able to stick with the group for the lesiurely beginning of the ride, but once we hit the first hill, my bike had a surprise in store for me.
I initially tried to stay seated at the bottom of the hill, but as I started to get dropped, I decided to stand and apply some power. Three pedal strokes later, I heard a loud pop and I thought that I had simply dropped my chain. Instead, I looked down to see that my chain had snapped and looked something like the picture below.
Though most of the group was already pulling away before my chain snapped, Mike from Tri-Speed stayed behind to help. Unfortunately, neither of us had a chain tool, so I was stuck about 10 miles from my car with a useless bike. Mike, however, was generous enough to ride the 30 minutes back to the store, and drive back out to pick me up (Thanks Mike!). Since my chain failed near the top of the hill, I was able to coast back nearly a mile so that Mike wouldn't have to drive quite as far to pick me up. After about 45 min, Mike made it back and we were able to install a new chain at the store. Woo hoo!
Moral of the story: Always be prepared.
Oh, and I ate a bowl of cereal when I got home. The 30 minutes of riding wasn't really deserving of a pancake breakfast. Maybe next time.
