Back home now and relieved. The more observant may have spotted that the rear wheel on the bike looked somewhat oval shaped in the pic from the train in Germany, well it was indeed. On Saturday evening having finished my site seeing (is it sight as in I saw it, or site as in a location? Both work.) I was waiting on the cycle path at the red cycle light to cross the road whilst behind me the path was open to cyclists going straight on which many of them did, however one man clearly forgot he was pulling a trailer with a person sitting in it and smashed into the back of my bike with his left trailer wheel and as I was standing astride the bike it held firm, he bounced through me and carried on, shaken I shouted after him but he disappeared. The lights changed and I set off, or rather didn't; the wheel was jammed. I looked round and could see it was badly twisted. I had to lift the rear wheel off the ground and carry it whilst steering the front wheel to walk back to the hotel, which thankfully was not too far away, but far enough. I was now stuck with this situation as I was on the 8.02 on Sunday morning from Copenhagen central through on three trains to Hamburg, with a hotel booked for Sunday night and three more trains to Rotterdam on Monday, when that would realistically be my first chance to get someone to look at it for me. I went to bed with the joyous thought of having to lift the rear wheel and loaded panniers at the back off the ground and steer the front all the way, and the most terrifying thought was on and off the ferry across the channel, as that is a long hike as opposed to getting on and off a train, wheels are pretty irrelevant as you have to lift it anyway and I knew the hotels were next to the stations and the interchanges are usually only a few platforms. I had the brilliant thought that it was the brake that was jamming the wheel, so if I undid it the wheel would turn, meaning I could push as opposed to lift and push. Well that didn't work, the wheel was bent around the frame. Long and short of it was lifting and pushing onto and off trains from Copenhagen to Rotterdam, and why the bike spent the night at Hamburg Station ! In Rotterdam I had time to go to the under-station bike parking complex with its huge bike workshop, and as ever the ever helpful Dutch didn't let me down. I explained I needed some sort of repair to allow me to push the bike on and off the ferry, nice chap immediately realised it was a new wheel and one was conjured up, but as he pointed out, the frame was twisted, I had looked earlier in the day and though that might be the case, "Go grab a coffee give me an hour and I'll see what I can do." I returned to find a new wheel on and it was ride-able but only in the middle gears as adjustment to the higher gears pulled the chain into the spokes, but I was so relived that I could now push / ride it home. I got home OK riding part of the way after a couple of forgetful episodes of changing up and into the spokes, oops!
So I investigated on the net twisted frames, and as the guy in Rotterdam had said, you can't bend them back as they will fracture, or be at best weakened and fracture will happen later when you are riding.
I thought how ironic that after 5 years of riding together, bike and I would end or riding days together at the furthest point we had ever been to. Thinking of all the places I had been to on it I felt really sad that "bikie" was now home but irreparably dead.
The next afternoon I rode to the specialized shop in town where Gary, the guy who sold it to me 5 years ago, is now the manager, having moved there from the shop I originally bought it from ("I only want to ride to and from the station, no further" I told him then as he keeps reminding me) and told him the tale. He called out his chief mechanic Alex and the frame alignment tool was used to asses the twist in the frame, which was measured at 50mm which doesn't sound a lot, and indeed is at the limit of frame twist tolerance, indeed I was shown a brand new bike and it was measured with a 15mm twist and it was straight from the factory. It would be possible to realign the gear shift etc and sort bikie to make it ride-able, which is what happened and I rode home. Having started looked an new bikes and being so much wiser now as to what is needed from 5 years of cycling, its time I need to start thinking about a new one for next year.
While I was training it back from Denmark, I was looking at my cycle helmet hanging on the handlebars and noticed a big bash on the left side I'd never noticed before, on closer examination I found the helmet was split open completely, clearly a result of last years accident which, had I not been wearing it, would have been my skull, and probably I would not be writing this now, so ALWAYS wear a helmet!!! New one purchased now.
So overall a successful Euro-cycle for this year, and raised just over £4,000 for Anthony which should help get him that new wheel chair.
That's all folks as they say. Til the next time!
So I investigated on the net twisted frames, and as the guy in Rotterdam had said, you can't bend them back as they will fracture, or be at best weakened and fracture will happen later when you are riding.
I thought how ironic that after 5 years of riding together, bike and I would end or riding days together at the furthest point we had ever been to. Thinking of all the places I had been to on it I felt really sad that "bikie" was now home but irreparably dead.
The next afternoon I rode to the specialized shop in town where Gary, the guy who sold it to me 5 years ago, is now the manager, having moved there from the shop I originally bought it from ("I only want to ride to and from the station, no further" I told him then as he keeps reminding me) and told him the tale. He called out his chief mechanic Alex and the frame alignment tool was used to asses the twist in the frame, which was measured at 50mm which doesn't sound a lot, and indeed is at the limit of frame twist tolerance, indeed I was shown a brand new bike and it was measured with a 15mm twist and it was straight from the factory. It would be possible to realign the gear shift etc and sort bikie to make it ride-able, which is what happened and I rode home. Having started looked an new bikes and being so much wiser now as to what is needed from 5 years of cycling, its time I need to start thinking about a new one for next year.
While I was training it back from Denmark, I was looking at my cycle helmet hanging on the handlebars and noticed a big bash on the left side I'd never noticed before, on closer examination I found the helmet was split open completely, clearly a result of last years accident which, had I not been wearing it, would have been my skull, and probably I would not be writing this now, so ALWAYS wear a helmet!!! New one purchased now.
So overall a successful Euro-cycle for this year, and raised just over £4,000 for Anthony which should help get him that new wheel chair.
That's all folks as they say. Til the next time!