The new bike blues...

If you have been reading the posts in chronological order, you will know that this post will be about Polka Dot Lisa and my ride to Frankston with the BV group.

We started the day with our usual trip to St Kilda via Collins St. As we set off PDL was really feeling unsure about the bike and she was super nervous. So as we rode down to St Kilda I sat on her wheel just to the right of her to act as a kind of protection for her. However PDL was just really in a bad frame of mind the whole way, eventually coming to a head on St Kilda Rd. I had to pull over and comfort her and assure she was doing fine but it didn’t seem to help much. Eventually PDL calmed down a bit and we made our way to the meeting point, a bit late.

As we rode down Beaconsfield Pde, PDL’s front derailer was rattling as she rode on the small front ring and the small back ring. I suggested she give the derailer a slight adjustment but it didn’t do anything. So once we pulled up at the meet point (and with everyone eager to see PDL’s new bike) we asked for some help to adjust the front derailer. Dave jumped in to give us a hand while everyone else patiently waited for us as they got cold (sorry all).

After a bit of fiddling about we discovered that the front derailer brifter was not working at all, so we left it in the small front ring and took off for Frankston.

The pace south was gentle and Dave and I rode together while Kathy and PDL rode together behind us. Kathy was riding in cleats for the first time and she was very nervous about it so I was hoping that the two of them sharing their fears would help each other. Somewhere near Black Rock, PDL moved up next to me while Dave dropped back to Kathy and that unfortunately was the last we saw of them for the day.

PDL and I rode on south and I dropped PDL around the hills of Ricketts Point (wow- ME dropping PDL on hills!). I think PDL was finding the going a bit tougher on her new road bike as the ride position is far different to her flat bar bike, and also the ride position wasn’t quite right yet. We all regrouped at Mordi for the customary break and chat while we waited for a while wondering where Dave and Kathy had gotten to, but eventually we figured they had turned around and so we continued south.

As we attempted to get through the round about at Mordi, our group was split up with PDL, Matt, FlatBarDave (we had too many Dave’s on the ride so we assigned different “Dave” names to each) and myself being dropped at the intersection. As we tried to get through the roundabout with a black 4WD in the right hand lane, the group of riders grew and grew. Finally, the black 4WD moved out into the intersection and positioned itself to allow all the cyclists to get through. Everyone waved and yelled their thanks to the driver. Must be a cyclist we figured… LOL.

Down Station St it was Matt and Dave in front, me behind them and PDL just a few meters back. I was trying to get PDL to move up just those few meters to catch the draft but I think she was struggling. Slowly but surely PDL dropped back and by the time we came into Frankston, she was about 50 meters back. I backed right off to bring her up to me and I thought she was right behind me so I lead the way down the road. After a min or two I did a quick look back to check on PDL and she was no where to be seen. SHIT!

I turned around and rolled slowly back on the footpath. In the distance I could see PDL walking towards me and judging by her hand movements she appeared to be upset. When we met up she was struggling for breath and I immediately saw she had some sort of panic attack. Having had one of those many years ago I can understand how scary they are.

After a bit of a hug and calm down, we decided that it was all a bit much to deal with today and that we would catch the train back. FlatBarDave, rode back to us to see if we were OK and I told him our decision and also called Matt back to let him know also.

So we slowly rolled into the station and tried to remain inconspicuous to avoid the abuse by the bogan knuckle draggers who were yelling crap at anyone they didn’t like. Somehow we made it into the station unscathed and trained it back into the city.

As we rode up towards Brunswick St, Ben from Australian In Front happened upon us. I wasn’t 100% sure who it was at first as he was on a MTB, in street clothes and he had also grown a beard. Anyway the three of us rode down Brunswick St, all stopping at BSC for a quick chat (Ben wanted to check out PDL’s new bike and we wanted to get the broken brifter fixed).

In BSC we explained the problem to the mechanic and how we at first tried to fix it ourselves with our experienced cyclist friends only to be met with the comment- “Is you mate a bicycle mechanic? No? Well I am, I’ll have a look at it!” What a smart arse! So we go and sit down on the couch to wait for the verdict only to have the mechanic come out and tell us EXACTLY what we already knew- the brifter was broken (gee, fancy that- us average Joe’s knowing a broken part when we see it!). At least the mechanic was friendly with us for once. Maybe he is starting to get the fact that we are not total know nothings after all. Grrr.. lets not go down that path shall we?

The verdict was that the mechanic had seen this happen before and they had to remove the part, send it to Shimano for a replacement part to be sent out. As nothing could be done on a Saturday, he left the bike in the small front ring so PDL could keep riding it over the weekend and return the bike on Monday morning. My thoughts are- why can’t they just put in a new part off the shelf and deal with Shimano in their own time, but I didn’t want to have an argument so we just let it slide.

We made it home and PDL was super down on herself about only making it to Frankston and not riding back. As I kept on telling her, she has only had the bike for a week and the different ride position coupled with her fears early on and the bike issues all tallied up to wear her out emotionally.

She will live to fight another day and I still totally believe in her (even if she doesn’t).

The new bike blues...