Tuesday, December 30, 2008

So Much For Permanent #531 Today..

Right about now a few randos are rolling east from Mercer Island, starting the Mercer Island-Redmond-Orting permanent*, and I'm supposed to be with them!! But I'm not, I'm home..

Here's what happened: As I walked out my front door, ready to ride to Mercer Island (this was at about 7), I realize that my dynohub-driven front light isn't working!! (And we'd be finishing at night, so lights are kinda required). What's weird is that I gave my front wheel a few test-spins (to light up my light) in my apartment, as I always do, and everything was fine.

After fumbling with the wires for a while, and cursing the recent change (removed rear light) that had almost certainly caused this, 10 minutes were lost and I couldn't fix it. F*ck!

Having been spoiled by the glow of my Schmidt E6 halogen front light, I was hesitant to grab an old (battery-driven) LED as a last resort (mine are pretty weak), but I broke down a pawed through my "collection" of bike parts/tools, looking for something I hadn't used in about a year.

By the time I found something I could use (and those silly batteries), it was well past 7:30, and I just gave up. Guess I really am spoiled by the E6 light!!

I've only got one ride under my R-12 (one brevet or perm a month for a full year) belt, so I suppose bailing on this ride isn't a huge deal. There's always tomorrow to do a different permanent, but I can't get the paperwork done in time..

Although it would have been fun, and with a great group as always.

Check Mark's blog, and Robert's blog for accounts of all the miles and fun on they'll have on this ride.

3 comments:

Mars Girl said...

Ouch! There's a certain pain all day in knowing you missed a ride that is still going on while you're doing anything but riding. You better just make your own ride today to make yourself feel better. Though, really, it wont be the same. I dont do permanents (I dont think we have such a thing out here), but I do do registered rides... So I really understand your pain. The only thing worse than missing the ride, to me, is having your computer stop working so that even though you did the ride, you don't have an accurate count of the miles (which happened to me on a 100 mile ride earlier this year... I hated having to guess the mileage at the end and not knowing EXACTLY what I had logged). I eventually used the mileage from someone else's computer, but I still couldnt erase the feeling of being a cheat...

SIR Permanent Coordinator said...

Matt, There is time to do another ride tomorrow ... we are doing Hood Canal Loop 2 from Bainbridge to Bremerton, catching the 6:10 AM ferry. Bring your paperwork and I'll have a card for you. If you prefer another ride, send in the paperwork tonight by 9PM and we'll send you the card. Geoff

Robert H said...

Sorry I didn't call you back. I was busy calling in to my work and explaining that I was sick... from the bathroom at the start.