A sunnier day!
Yes, it’s sunny and warm here, but that’s not what I mean. I mean that things are looking much brighter today than yesterday!
When I got up this morning I was pretty conflicted about whether or not welding the hanger was the right idea. It really seemed like the only solution, but a few people voiced concerns about the heat from the torch damaging the carbon fiber frame. Most likely the weld would get the aluminum derailleur hanger back together, but there was a chance that I’d wreck the carbon fiber frame in the process. I spent the morning trying to reach someone at Guru and called a few authorized dealers on the East Coast (the shops on the West Coast weren’t open at 7am local time) and following a message I posted on Slowtwitch to see if anyone had any other thoughts. No one had any solutions that were practical given the time constraints. So… we went to the welder.
And they hooked the shit right up! These welders came well recommended and yesterday afternoon they seemed confident they could do it. They felt the same way this morning. The welder, Colin, was a former mountain biker and happened to have a bike stand in the shop. We took the derailleur and the rear wheel off, Colin sanded down the hanger a bit, then we covered the downtube with a wet rag and stuffed another wet rag down inside the seat tube. I didn’t want to be near the welding, just in case the bike burst into flames – that would have been far too traumatic. But after just a couple minutes of welding, voila!
After that, the next stop was to hit the lake for a little swim. Knowing that the weld looked good and the bike frame wasn’t damaged was a huge relief! As we were getting out of the car back near the lake, the guys from Guru called. I was a little nervous to tell them that I’d had the piece welded, but they agreed that that was my best bet right now. They offered to overnight a new hanger, but, given the time constraints, we all agreed that wouldn’t really work. Having them confirm that the weld job was the best solution was a huge relief. They told me to send them the frame once I’m back in LA and they’ll do a permanent fix and even re-paint the whole thing if I want! Nice. Gotta love great customer service.
A nice, relaxed swim in the lake and the next stop was Bike Barn, where the mechanic from yesterday, Ian (that’s him riding by the front of the shop above), seemed just as happy to see the welded hanger as I was. The staff at Bike Barn, all of whom heard the story yesterday, crowded around to look and praise the weld. Ian is such a nice guy and has an incredible positive, encouraging attitude. I’m sure the other wrenches there are great, but if you’re in Penticton and need bike work, definitely hit Bike Barn and ask for Ian! He took the bike he had been working on off the stand, put mine up there and went to work. He recommended a new derailleur, and at that point, I would have followed just about any bike-related recommendation he made! He fixed it all up quickly, took it on a little test spin and presented me my all fixed up bike.
After that, and some lunch, Mike and I took our bikes out for a little spin. I will admit that the first time I went from small chainring to the big ring, I held my breath and said a little prayer, but it worked and was oh so smooth! Phew and double phew!
This is Mike riding by the shop on his bike after our ride:
In the middle of all this with the bike, Aaron emailed me this morning to say that his passport was expired. He was supposed to be on a 6:30 flight out of San Fran today. Oops. After a long night of phone calls and a long day at the Passport Office to get an emergency renewal and the airport to change his flights, he is booked on an 8pm flight to Vancouver tonight. He’ll spend the night there and fly to Kelowna first thing tomorrow morning. It’s all working out!
Now it’s about 4pm, 39 hours until race time. It’s been a long day. Seems like a good time for a little nap.
Swim – August 28
Distance: 1,200 yards
Time: 20 minutes
Location: Lake Okanagan, Penticton
Bike – August 28
Distance: 9.8 miles
Time: 36 minutes
Course: Penticton, Main Street
Conditions: Warm and sunny, 80’s