On my way via the canal. Or not. - In Brittany it only rains on the idiots. - CycleBlaze

August 3, 2018

On my way via the canal. Or not.

The entry to the canal path is just under the bridge, about fifty meters from the Gare in Nantes.
Heart 0 Comment 0

Or so I thought. Just after the bridge I ran into construction work, which had me scrambling up an embankment to get to street level. I zig zagged through city trafic to get back on the canal path and followed it Jc til the signs for Eurovelo 1 ended in the suburbs. Lost, I decided to navigate by dead-reckoning, which might just save me some kilometers. I went northward on fairly quiet roads until my rear derailleur started acting funny. Stopping in some random village I determined that the problem was a slipping shifter. I tightened that up, but as I rode on I noticed a distinct clicking coming from the mechanism and I pulled into the shade behind a grocery store to investigate. Oh, damn. Two problems presented themselves. First, the chain was not routed correctly through the derailleur so it rubbed when I was in low gears, something I didn't notice when I changed it the night before leaving. And the master pin that Shimano provides was loose. I put on my latex gloves that I always carry for such occasions and set about repairing the problems as best I could. Rerouting the chain was easy, but the pin was now effectively loose, and would only hold for a while before protruding from the side of the chain causing it to hang up. I pushed it back in several times during the ride, but eventually it dropped out forever to be lost. Now what? I didn't have a spare pin, or even a master link. I did have a chain tool on my compact tool kit, so I removed a complete link by driving out one pin. I was able to reattach the broken chain to itself, but the cheap chain tool bent trying to drive home the pin. It held good enough though to get to a shack on the re-found canal path that had the sign "reparations des vélos " salvation! The guy at the shack got out a big pliers and was able to drive home the pin. 

With all the excitement, it was getting late and it was hot, so at the very first turning I left the canal and got into a campground. I drank down a lot of water and some orange juice, set up the tent and took a shower. The heat had sapped my appetite so I only had a burger for supper, supplemented with some fruit before calling it a night. 

Under the pines. Not shown: barking dogs.
Heart 1 Comment 0

Today's ride: 64 km (40 miles)
Total: 78 km (48 miles)

Rate this entry's writing Heart 4
Comment on this entry Comment 0