So this was seventful. During my first ride (for this challenge obviously) I somehow managed to destory my bike. For reference, my dad bought that thing before I was born, and it has been with us for about 20 years. Everything on that bike was original, the chains, the wheels, not the tires because those bald quicker than expected, but just about everything else you can think of, it was original. This old Schwinn Tourer made me love biking, and I am forever grateful for it. Now, while I was in the middle of my ride, Mile 9 of 17.4, 7th gear decided to just shear in two and fall off the cassette. Oh but I still have all the other gears, that’s fine, right? Wrong. I had somehow managed to apply so much toruqe into the drivetrain that gears 1-4 were just spinning in place, and the bike wouldn’t shift past gear 5. This is just great! My ride until mile 9 had taken about 36 minutes, so I was steady at about a 15mph pace while riding, but staying in 5th gear severely limited my speed because of the cadence required to go at higher speeds in lower gears. Still, I managed to power through and keep the same pace (which I’m still slightly mesmerised by, even now) and reached home in one piece… not including the bike of course. During that ride back I thought, “The kids who suffer from cancer are still pushing and fighting, so what reason have I to stop at such a trivial hurdle?” And that was all I needed to push through with my ride. I just got my bike back from the repair shop today, with a shiny new cassette and a lengthened chain for the newer gears. I hope to continue riding for these kids’ treatment research, and until there is a cure, I will keep fighting on their behalf!
(Pictured: My completely broken 7th gear after I found the separate parts on the trail)