Day 36: Tuesday, 14 June 1983

Start: Campground, Cheyres, Switzerland

End: Campground, Delemont, Switzerland

Cloudy in the morning, but not raining. I'm out of the tiny, spic-and-span campground before 9:00. Riding along the shore of Lac de Neuchatel and then along the Bieler See. The sun comes out and everything is sparkly and beautiful. I stop to cash travellers checks and eat a tasty lunch. Pull into Biel (Bienne?) by 1:30 and leave the valley, starting over a couple of mountains toward Basel. The highest pass for me is only about 850 meters. Not a problem. As I cruise down from one crest I see a peloton of Swiss soldiers in uniforms -- including helmets and weapons -- heading up the road on military bicycles. Very cool! 

I spot a bike shop in Tavannes and stop to check it out and clean up Bob after yesterday's rainstorm.

From there the ride is downhill and smooth, but -- despite my ministrations at the bike shop -- something is fluttering and banging. I stop to check, but can't find anything. I get up some downhill speed again and the rubbing and banging comes and goes. It's intermittent, but gets worse and worse. I keep stopping to check, but can't find a problem.

Although I felt strong and thought I might roll all the way into Basel, at about 100 kilometers I see a campground and decide to call it a day and find out what the heck is wrong with Bob. As I pull off the panniers to do a thorough inspection, I discover the problem.

The right front pannier rack is broken. Just below where the rack attaches to the eyelet behind the dropout, the aluminum strut has broken clean through. When I spin the wheel, the fractured aluminum strut vibrates and rubs against the spokes. Yikes. This is not good, and my heart sinks. So much for the vaunted Eclipse low-riders. I am bummed, bummed, bummed.

I try to think it through. I could throw out some stuff to lighten the front panniers to see if that prevents the rubbing. I could ditch the front panniers entirely and just carry what fits in the rear bags. I could try and lash everything into place with twine or something. I could try to get it brazed or welded or whatever. I could see about buying a new rack and panniers. Okay, lots of possibilities. Something will work. Fortunately, Basel is only about 40 kilometers away, and it should be plenty big enough to have all the resources I require. So I just need to fix the broken rack well enough to get me that far.

Okay, I need to rig up something so I can keep the broken strut from poking into the spokes, at least temporarily.

This kind of repair is not my strength, but my father can fix anything, so I try to figure out what he would do. I lay out all my tools and spares and try to formulate a plan of attack. Nothing seems to work. After much contemplation, I can only decide I'm hungry and need to eat something before I proceed. Afterwards, it's getting too dark to see what the heck I'm doing, which ain't much.

I give up and crawl into the June Bug, determined to figure it out in the morning but knowing this is going to make me toss and turn all night.

Conditions 

Distance: 101 km  

Weather: Very cool 

Road: Good 

Traffic: Light 

Terrain: Over the mountains 

Mechanical: Front pannier rack breaks 

Physical: Feeling strong