Day 44
So! Bit of excitement today. I had felt my bike wobbling all day yesterday, and chalked it up to an unbalanced pannier. Still wobbling today, I did some investigating and found an enormous crack in the frame. I don't know how it got there, guesses include a faulty welding job or a hairline fracture from my crash on day 2 that just got exacerbated after two thousand miles of riding. In any case, I knew I couldn't go further today. I'm just thankful I caught it before either 1) I got stuck in the middle of knowhwere without a bike store for a hundred miles or 2) the front wheel snapped off while I was going 30mph downhill.
I wobbled my way to a bike shop in Estes Park, and they immediately came to the conclusion that it was totally unsafe to ride on, and probably unfixable. I realized I was stranded in Estes Park, until a very kind bike shop employee offered to give me a ride down to Boulder. Her name was Ritzy, and it turned out she was an ultramarathoner, which was pretty sick. I checked in with a Boulder bike shop, who confirmed what I already suspected: I needed a new bike. Thankfully, my family in Boulder agreed to host me for another night or two so I can get this sorted out.
(As I biked to my cousin's place it started to thunderstorm, which kind of just summed up the day.)
The bike is still under warranty, thankfully, so I can probably get a replacement. Unfortunately, I'm roughly 2000 miles from home, so getting that replacement to me may be a challenge. I'm going to call the company tomorrow when they open and learn how long I will have to wait. If it's less than a week, I'll continue riding. If it's more than a week, I think I may call it quits. I'll be disappointed if thats the case, but riding up to Estes Park yesterday was a pretty good note to end on, so I won't be too bummed.
Mom joked, "when most people bike tour, and say they had difficulties, they mean headwind and hills, not lyme disease and a broken frame."
What can I say, this blog would be boring otherwise. It wouldn't be fun if it was easy.
The posts without food are always more concerning ones :(
ReplyDeleteJanet and Todd fed me haha, I didn't go hungry
DeleteJust so glad you're safe!
ReplyDeleteWow. That is quite a crack! And pretty strange; it doesn't seem like your crash would have caused a crack like that and the crack does not seem to be at a weld point.
ReplyDeleteThis is Anne, continuing my comment from above. I'm on a different computer that has me logged in with a different profile. It looks like the holes inserted in the tube to hold you cables may have weakened your frame and maybe gave it a hairline crack that escalated into the major crack.
ReplyDeleteThats what Matt Dorson thinks
DeleteYikes! That's pretty scary, and super glad you noticed it when you did. Good luck with all the arrangements. Hope it works out! Also, https://boulder.craigslist.org/d/bicycles/search/bia :-)
ReplyDeleteIsaac- obviously, warranty service is the way to go, and hoping that they honor it. But it *looks* like your frame is a steel frame, and one of the advantages of steel frames (over aluminum and carbon, especially) is that they are supposed to be repairable in many cases. If you don't get satisfaction from Masi, you might continue to call other bike shops in the area. Boulder is a big biking area, and I'd be surprised if you couldn't find someone who repairs steel frames. Of course if I'm mistaken about it being steel, then all bets are off. A few minutes of searching the web this morning didn't yield anything promising, but it might be worth asking around locally.
ReplyDeleteThe frame is unfortunately titanium (supposedly, because it's more durable lol). I did find one guy who does titanium welding, and I'll see if he can fix it tomorrow
DeleteGood luck, Isaac! Still hoping that Masi stands by their product, as it sure does seem like a likely manufacturing defect, given the evidence at hand.
DeleteWe're rooting for a quick fix here too. Glad you made it to Estes and Boulder safely.
DeleteOh wow, that's quite a crack. I really hope that they find a way to deliver a bike to you. Is there any way to rent or borrow one otherwise?
ReplyDeleteI love your philosophical comments: "riding up to Estes Park yesterday was a pretty good note to end on..." "It wouldn't be fun if it was easy."
ReplyDeleteImpressive. In so many ways.
ReplyDelete