I was just saying to MLSP this morning that it was a perfect day for riding: sunny but not too hot and not a puff of wind...
Rewind five days:
"But isn't it odd that bad things only seem to happen when it's raining?"
OK, OK - I was wrong. It was on this beautiful morning that my gear cable came adrift - snapped not ten minutes out from home.
Derailed
Fortunately, at the suggestion of the Retired Marathoner, I carry a spare cable. No problem there - threading a gear cable is easy. Getting the damn derailleur to work properly afterwards is a mongrel. A bit of twiddling and fiddling got it working but the damn thing is still not right. (I'm obviously more of a software guy than a hardware guy!)
Update (later)
Attempts at repair when I got home led to the discovery that I had somehow managed to cross-thread the barrel adjuster. And I promise I didn't use pliers to try to turn it. Well ... alright I did, but not until I got home and found it was already well-and-truly jammed.
Anyway as the barrel adjuster is crucial to being able to adjust the cable tension - and therefore how smoothly and accurately gear changes occur - I'm stuffed for the moment and not exactly sure how I'll get to work in the morning. (Hopefully not on Super-Gran's Dahon Boardwalk that we've borrowed!)
Bugger you
What with all the derailleur tampering this morning, I was on and off the bike a few times with my head down over the business end. I don't know how many cyclists passed me - dozen I suppose - but I was only asked if I needed help twice. And one of those was by a couple of pedestrians!
As it happens I didn't need - or expect - any assistance. But what is it about cyclists? They have to be such "rugged individualists" that they can't slow down and make an enquiry? Is it a kind of "bugger you mate, I'm alright" attitude?
Self-sufficient
Of course riders should be self-sufficient. But bad stuff just happens sometimes and people can get caught out or break a tool or find their rubber cement has gone dry or any other sort of unexpected problem.
Personally whenever I see someone stopped on their own with a technical hitch I always check if they need anything. It's rare that anyone wants help but it doesn't cost you two minutes to loan someone a spanner or a pump. It's just common courtesy and concern for a fellow human being in my view.
But then I'm probably being terribly old fashioned.
Hmm, I wish I didn't some so aggrieved about that because I'm not really.
Slop
I also regret not having any sunscreen with me - not because I got a solar grilling (in fact, it was a pleasant morning to be in the sun) but because it makes a good standby hand cleaner...