Coming Uncranked

I recently noted a bit of extra play on my left pedal.  Before setting out on Tuesday morning commute I investigated the drive train and found the problem.  Here is view of the left crank from one of my original fittings:

Here is the left crank as I found it on Tuesday morning.





The exposed splines and threads were the first hint something was wrong.  It looked secure enough so I tightened down the clamp bolts and set out.  About five miles in the crank fell off completely clinking onto the greenway pavement.

There are two things wrong with this picture.  First, the crank came loose again.  Clearly something wrong.  Second, the pedal and crank should have stayed attached to the cleat on my cycling shoe. A quick inspection:





The two metal studs about half way down on the left and right used to have completely round caps.  Looks like I successfully wore out my first pair of cycling cleats.  This only took ~11 years.  I bought these Speedplay Frogs during my first full year of cycling in NC.  They've cycled in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Maine, and maybe Florida.  Thanks for the good times trusty shoes and pedals.  Time to move on.

I stopped trailside and reattached the left crank.  The worst thing about this was the cold quick onset of cold.  When temps are in the low 30s keeping moving keeps warm.  There isn't much movement in turning bolts.  Cold temps and high heart rate are killers for manual dexterity.

There was nothing to do about the cleat so I rode on.  The crank came off again while riding an errand during my evening commute.  This time it was getting dark so I tightened it down extra snug and made for home.

I am losing count of all the lessons from this experience.  I came uncranked but stayed unfazed.   In telling people this story several turned pale with concern. I appreciate their concern, really nice to know they care. In their view bike commuting is scary enough; adding a mechanical was incomprehensible. To me it was mundane and possibly an annoyance at most.

Reattaching the crank was a simple mechanical task.  I had it replaced and rolling again without missing a beat of conversation with Mom on the phone.  She didn't want to get off the phone while I was still stranded on the side of the road.  By the time she made the comment I was almost a mile down the road.  Thanks Mom for keeping me company.


Allowing the cleat and crank to unknowingly get into that condition is another lesson.  I need to be more diligent in maintenance.  The crank is missing a part that the bike shop had to order that will now keep me off the bike for a week.  The lost training time is a big penalty.  This is a clear price to pay for ignoring maintenance.  At the same time it is all good practice.  Kenny assures me this mechanical is rare.  Rare or not I will be more attentive to loose parts going forward.  I'm also getting an extra spare for the pedal should this happen again. Kenny patiently entertained my questions about securing other bolts on the bike.  After a few loose nuts (other than the rider) on my tricross I removed all the bolts and reassmbled with removable Loctite.  Kenny assures me this is not necessary on the Moots as they took care of this during assembly.  This is an anomaly with the bottom bracket and crank.  I love these guys at Bicycle Chain Chapel Hill.

I dropped off the Moots and picked up my Tricross from a fresh tune up so I was back in an old familiar saddle on Wednesday.

Pulling it all together:

• Attend to critical dependencies.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Tightening a loose bolt is much easier than finding or replacing one that falls out. Loctite keeps bolts from coming lose minimizing maintenance. Minimal maintenance still does not mean no maintenance especially under "extreme conditions".
• When things do come loose then use what you've got to get moving again and get to a place where you can take care of it permanently.
• Pictures and documentation of the original design and "known good state" are helpful in diagnosis.
• If a piece proves prone to weakness or failure then shore it up, know how to work on it, or plan to replace it.

All of this is completely tailored to the situation.  The Moots already has over 350 miles on it.  Few bicycles ever see that mileage, let alone in less than a month.  Few bikes face the mileage I plan for this one.  It's got a long way to go to reach the ~4k miles I put on the Tricross last year.

And speaking of the Tricross - I felt screaming fast on narrow cross tires after so much riding on 29er knobbies. Cranking along relatively easily in the big ring is quite a boost of confidence. 11.6 MPH with the knobbies vs. 15.6 MPH without.

Spring. In February

Sixty something miles covering ATT north and south on Saturday.
weather was beautiful. Chill set in as darkness fell in the evening. Long sleeve tech shirt worked great to avoid exposure. In the evening I added light jacket and full finger gloves.

I found an unexpected surprise in a couple miles of offload trail near Durham armory. One downed tree shined a bright spotlight on my novice single track handling of the new bike. At the same time the bike performed beautifully. I love the bottom bracket clearance.

This was a large leap back onto the bike after a couple weeks AWOL. It is good to have the saddle time in so I can enjoy today's rain and tonight's possible snow from the warm dry indoors.

Thanks for the spring day in February and the opportunity to relish it.

Unleveling the Training Field

Today was an uneventful ride other than the typical attack-of-the-killer-minvan.  One nearly took me out on an otherwise deserted road.  Minivan, I appreciate your family is important but what about mine?

On a more positive note I fielded a repeat question that deserved some more thought.  How can two athletes of differing abilities workout together?  AKA, how to be an Ironman and be merried to an Ironman.  Rebecca and I accomplished just that last year.  I have some ideas, so does she.  We will share and readers can take the best of both.  I think of this as unleveling the training field.

In another confluence more than one person mentioned the length of my posts.  So I'll try to be a bit more concise.

Rebecca and I each did an Ironman in 2011.  She did Ironman Louisvlle at the end of August and I did Ironman Wisconsin in the middle of September.  In 2011, and in the years leading up to it, we spent ample time swimming, biking, and running so I'm going to focus on those sports.  Ideas generally increase in cost going down.

Swimming
Swimming together is pretty straight forward.  In a lap or in a lake swim laps.  You will always be close together. If more ballast is required then the stronger swimmer can:

• allow normal drag: ditch the swim cap, wear regular swim trunks instead of tri shorts, keep body hair
• increase drag: get a swim parachute
• avoid the wetsuit

The weaker swimmer should take opposite measures.

Biking
Biking is the largest chunk of the race so this is generally the longest training time.  When cycling together:

• terrain permitting stronger cyclist rides on a softer surface while weaker cyclist rides on harder surface.  The ATT south of I-40 is great for this in the dual surface sections.
• stronger leads a pace line; weaker drafts.  you can't draft in the actual race but it will be immaterial during training.  Rebecca Preview: Rebecca feels it was critical to do a few rides where she was in the wind the entire time to build confidence.  That's cool. Do that when training schedules simply do not line up
• stronger cyclist uses lower pressure tires, tires with larger cross section, tires with higher rolling resistance, or even a different bike such as a cross bike or mountain bike.
• i hate to say it but side by side trainers is an option
• stronger cyclist plays sherpa. Carry a large camel back.  Add panniers and load them up.
• on the rather extreme side the stronger cyclist pulls a BOB trailer.  This necessitates a less efficient bike and adds even more load.

Running
The variation in running speeds are similar in magnitude to differences in cycling speed. Running is also time consuming.

• repeat laps on a two to 5 mile course in opposite directions if necessary
• stronger runner plays sherpa carrying camelback and extra water
• use dual surface trails such as the ATT.  This works most of the way along what I call the central ATT.  North of I-40 the trail has deep gravel on the sides.  South of I-40 the trail is dual surface.  The stronger runner gets the softer surface.  If the stronger runner can shoulder a fully loaded large camel back, run in the deep gravel, and still lead lead the pack then you may have a genuine badass on your hands.  Not to worry; just add a larger pack.
• another great option is to pickup at varying stages of a run.  the casual runner can join in for the first 5k or 10k and then the Ironman in Training (IIT) can continue on the necessary insane distances.  This is the best option as it gets everyone into the same mental state together.  If the IIT is super hardcore then the casual runner can join in for the end of the run.  This one can be tough as you're not in the same mental state together.

Outside the direct sports find a yoga class together.  Yoga is good for everyone.

Somewhere in there we found enough ballast to train together and be successful in our respective events and goals.  I hope this helps other active or hoping-to-be-more-active families out there.  If you have other ideas please do share.