No Reason to Panic

CDV (Ride Vermillion) and I went out on our initial tandem ride in preparation for Gut Check '08. It started out great! I clipped into the new Crank Brother Quattro SL's with no problems at all and I'm actually quite impressed with them. CDV and I rolled out a rather easy 20-22 mph pace. That lasted about eight miles or so and then something went drastically wrong.

There is a stretch on the bluff road that was HEAVILY seal coated last year and it is "slow" pavement. That's what we chalked up to the fact we were climbing a small rise at a mere 12-13 mph. As the last 20 miles unfolded for this ride, it was evident that something else was going on. We got off the "slow" stretch and still was struggling to hold 17 mph tops.

We stopped about 23 miles in and checked the tires and, even though I didn't take time to check them before we left, they seemed fine. We got back on and it seemed to roll better, but still not great. Probably 18 mph top end and we were getting tired. Then we started to hear something..it was a whining noise. It was the disc brakes. It's my first bike with disc brakes and I know NOTHING about them.

We LABORED back into town and we were totally fragged. When we got back to my place I picked up the bike and spun attempted to spin the front wheel. It made ABOUT one revolution before coming to a complete stop. Craig made his way to his truck and I crawled into the house. Too tired to even look at the problem. Heck, it took me another 2.5 hours to recover enough to BLOG about it.

No reason to loose faith in the tandem team that is poised to take the Gut Check by storm (we are the only tandem team so far!). Think of the initial ride like one of my indoor cycling classes: We had an easy flat for a warm up and then we turned up the tension to simulate tough hills....for the next 1.5 hours. So for those who want to whine about my classes, remember...I could take you out for one of my now famous tandem rides.