Mechanical failiure...

Aside from bonking and falling off the bike in a carpark doing like 3k's per hour around a year ago I don't think I've had a worse ride than I did last night.

I went out with the group from the LBS. About 17 kays in I pop a tyre, not just a little flat 'Ooops, a puncture' but a BANG and all the air was out in an instant. I changed the tube in the dark only to find that my bike pump that has only been used once in a year was full of water and doesnt work!! One of the guys had stayed with me and his pump worked okay. It was one of those little stubby ones and so I could probably only get about 60-70 psi out of it. Enough to get home on but not enough to feel fast, a bit spongy.

Anyway, the sprint I usually totally kick **** in I get beaten by about 3 metres. Bum.

THEN on the way home my rear wheel goes 'snap' and two spokes pop at the same time!!!! I hobble home, rear wheel wobbling like a drunken monkey.

My original front wheel is in the bike shop with broken spokes and so I've got my spare on. My new back wheel is having major repairs. My old rear wheel has just punctured and snapped spokes. Bloody hell, what's with me ruining so many wheels lately? What's with the ****ty ride? Am I just too powerful?

That's it, I'm taking up lawn bowls!!!

Okay, no I'm not. Love the bike too much.

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I'm pretty sure theres more to life than being really really good looking, and one day I hope to find out what that is...

Both my MTB's wheels are in the shop having their hubs overhauled (or replaced, extent of damage is so far unknown). I have no spare disc wheels, so I'm left having to ride a 14kg behemoth (my commuter with the fork and tyres from the MTB thrown on) for a race tonight :/. It doesn't have a front brake either, as the fork is disc only. I'm crazy .

bonking????

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Rob

www.bikenorth.org.au

'07 Giant OCR Composite 3 - R550s with Michi Prorace2

'06 Giant CRX1

'96 Apollo Himalaya commuter - Rigid Fork, slicks, fully racked

DMR Switchback Reynolds 520- Velocity Cliffhangers, SRAM X-9, Easton bar/stem


DMR Trailstar 2 4130- Mavic117, Dice Whiplash, SCUD DH bars, LX 9spd, DMR Crisis Cranks.

'04 Giant VT3 frame - SOLD

Low blood sugar, crashing, hitting the wall.

Many terms for it. Maybe it's a local thing. Where I was brought up 'bonking' meant to have sex. Here (Tasmania) it's a cycling term for reaching rock bottom with your energy.

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I'm pretty sure theres more to life than being really really good looking, and one day I hope to find out what that is...

You bonked doing 3km/h in a carpark??

Nope. Had just bought my bike a few weeks before the incident and was a little too enthusiastic and inexperienced. Did 60 kays and hadn't eaten enough. Was going extremely slow in a carpark waiting to cross the road - wondering why I felt like ****. Next thing I knew I was lying on the bitumen.

But yes, very embarassing. Hobbled home slowly.

I didn't even know the 'bonk' existed until I told my story and every other rider could tell a similar tale of woe and embarassment. Made me feel a lot better.

Maybe 'tales of woe and embarassment' should be it's own thread.

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I'm pretty sure theres more to life than being really really good looking, and one day I hope to find out what that is...

Yep, been there. Not very nice is it?
I was lucky that I had a muesli bar in my pocket which managed to kick me back into life...well sort back to life

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"I think the only rule is that if someone is a big fat bastard its fairly safe to assume they aren't going to be pwning anyone on a climb" ~ classic1

I think 'bonking' when used in this regard may be an American expression. It has always been called 'hunger flat' in Australia, at least the years I've been riding. It's the worst feeling in the world especially if you are still some way from home.

Bonking on the bike?

Well, I guess your rides are FAR more enjoyable than mine.

Now I'll definitely be nagging my wife to take up cycling...

Scotty

That doesn't sound like a "hunger flat", that sounds like a vasovagal faint, common in young people after heavy exertion and dehydration.

:-) very, very good

Might very well have had a lot to do with dehydration, yes. But at 32 do I still qualify for 'young'? How very nice of you to say.

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I'm pretty sure theres more to life than being really really good looking, and one day I hope to find out what that is...

Damn right it's young! (I'm 45 years young and still gettin' passed by white haired old codgers on their bikes.)

And even worse when it happens going up a hill a long way from home Oh the pain...
I think the 'bonk' term gained popularity in Oz after Lance used it to describe his ride in one of the mountain stages of the 2000 Tour de France. The yanks have been using it for a while, but they look at you funny when you use the term root

Yes, it always makes me think twice when Americans tell me they are "Rooting for me"