A Broken Pedal and A Happy New Year

A friend has recently got back into cycle cross after several years absence. He says he’s loving it, but the dire wet weather has contributed to a perennial sequence of mechanical failures. Rear derailleurs, chains, cranks – all have needed frequently changing in mud soaked Britain.

I didn’t say anything, but I was feeling just a little smug that I’d been riding for miles and miles on the road, with nothing more than the odd squirt of GT-85 to keep the rust at bay. Though my winter training hack may be slow, it isn’t half reliable. Ride through puddles half a wheel deep and it keeps going without complaining.

I guess mechanicals are an inevitable part of cycle cross, but recent cycle rides through the Yorkshire country lanes have pretty much resembled cyclo-cross. As mentioned in confessions of a bike mechanic, my technique for bike maintenance is somewhat on the primitive side. My basic technique is to ride until something makes a sufficiently loud noise to warrant attention. But, in the past few months, the miles have stacked up, and apart from a double puncture, the bike has kept going without so much as a ‘clickety click’ out of place.

New Year Ride

After the wettest Christmas on record I was really looking forward to the New Year, and prospects of a little dry weather. The New Year is psychologically a time to step up the training. In December, the next season always feels a ‘year away’. But, come January and the first races seem to be just around the corner.

It was cold but dry. This entails spending considerable time in wrapping up in several layers of clothes. It’s all a bit of a pavlava, but if you’re going to be out on the bike for several hours you want to get it right.

Anyway finally I was reader, eager to start the first ride of the new year. The first pedal stroke of many…

‘Crunch’ Not even out of the garage drive, I heard a very unpleasant crunching sound coming from the left pedal. This is the kind of noise, that really can’t be ignored, especially since the pedal wasn’t revolving properly.

I went back to house and examined the damage. The bearings inside the speedplay pedal had seemed to seize up. I tried to squirt loads of GT-80 into the pedal, but from experience, I knew this wasn’t going to work. But, you keep trying anyway. Vainly hoping it won’t keep you from completing your ride.

After squirting half a bottle of GT-85 I tried to cycle again ignoring the crunching pedal and the fact it was incredibly stiff -but it was just as bad whilst. With every pedal stroke, my intended ride got shorter and shorter. When I’d finally settled on Ilkley, 5 miles away I realised my pedal had come out of the crank. Because it couldn’t freespin, my pedalling action had worked itself out of the crank arm. It was probably foolish to ride on a damaged pedal, as I could have damaged the thread. Anyway there I was, one mile from home, and down to one pedal.

In 2012, I’ve had enough one pedal cycling to last for several years, so I did an immediate u-turn and cycled one legged back home. Cycling up the steep hill to Menston provided some amusement for the New Year walkers, but I can’t say I was overly amused. Stranded in Yorkshire with one pedal; this was not an auspicious start to the New Year!.

I realised there’s no way to mend the pedal. Also, there’s no way to buy a new speedplay pedal apart from mail order, which could take a few days, so that’s was that, a fatal mechanical. To be fair, it’s not really the bikes fault, but the delicate speedplay pedal.

The annoying thing is that I’d bought a speedplay gun and greased all my speed plays in the late summer because this has happened before, and at £130 a pair, replacing them is not exactly like buying a new inner tube. (I will do a update post on Speedplay pedal maintenance soon). They say a chain is as strong as its weakest link. In this case, Speedplay has proved the weakest link. A bit annoying when you’re stranded in  a county which until a few years ago was still bartering sheep for pints of ale.

So my first ride of the New Year, is quite possibly the shortest of the year. And I have three days off the bike, until I get reunite myself with a working pedal.

Well, I hope your first ride of the New Year proves more much profitable!