%&*@$ bee ruined my ride
(In honor of the Tour de France this month’s distances are in kilometers)
This Ride: 45.1 km
Kona Distance: 3,280.2 km
Month to date: 402.8 km
2010 Total: 4030.7 km
Pace to 8,456.78 km mile goal in 2010: +88.5 km
After Monday’s very hot ride, I’m not afraid or intimidated by the heat any more. I can do this, stay hydrated, stay safe, and ride in the heat. That’s a good thing, because today was hot once again. The Garmin thermometer topped out at 99. It was 92 when I started.
This was a “squeeze a ride in” ride. I had a narrow window between church obligations, and decided to ride early in the afternoon. This was the first time out after the bike had been in the shop and I was interested to see how well “tuned up” the gears were. Not satisfactory, as it turns out. I’ll have to take some time to dial them in a little better. With the small front front ring, I had most of the gears available, except for maybe the smallest gear because of the angle of the chain. In the large front ring, where I ride most of the time, I did not have the three (count them! three) largest sprockets. I really count on some of these. Shifting the front derailleur was not smooth and it had to be done in the middle gears if I was going to accomplish the shift at all. I’m either doing something completely wrong or there is a real problem with these gears. Perils of a compact bike? Maybe, but it shouldn’t be this bad.
Working through these problems, I still had a very good ride. I breezed down College Parkway to Oceana and back up to do the hills on St. Margaret’s Road. Nearly back home, as I was contemplating whether I had time to get a full 30 miles in, I nailed a bee going about 18 mph and it nailed me back. I couldn’t believe how painful that bee sting was (just below my knee). I flicked the stinger out (with the venom sack still pumping hard), and kept pushing my way home. That sting took the fight out of me, and I decided to settle for 28 miles.
Really, despite my whining, this was a good ride. I’m ahead of my “pace” for the month. I’ve got an early ride planned in the morning (the 5:45 ride with the Peloton) and am looking forward to that one. I’ll probably add a few miles at the end, because these “stick to the trail” rides are now getting to be too short for my needs.
Rev Rider 
I gave up on PP a while ago and started going to BD Arnold. They have very good mechanics there. They will charge for their time if you didn’t buy the bike there, but my experience is you won’t be gouged nor sold anything you don’t need. They do seem to understand that good customer service is the key to getting you to come back and they offer a 10% discount on most accessories, parts and supplies to SPP members (whole bikes and labor charges are not eligible for the discount). They are also quite willing to spend a few minutes answering questions and teaching you how to make basic adjustments and will explain the limits of what they can or cannot accomplish for you.
The new bearing I recently had to have replaced in the rear hub, and labor to do the work, were covered under warranty because they had overhauled the bike back in March. I didn’t think to ask about this, they informed me of it when I come to pick up the bike.
Disclaimer: I have no financial interest in any of the businesses mentioned in this comment. 🙂
What’s with you and bees? I’ve ridden a lot of miles around here and Mr. Murphy’s law has thrown just about every obstacle you could think of at me or one of the other riders in my company at some point, but never a bee. This is at least the second post I’ve read where you mentioned a bee sting. Ouch.