Winter, Again!

The snow is flying, the studded tires are back on the bike.

What kind of fall was it, bike-wise? The most interesting thing that happened was the steer tube breaking inside the head tube of the commuting Trek. I was riding along and the steering felt a little funky, but I couldn't see a problem. I wiggled the bars back and forth, and they felt solid.

But as I was heading to work, they felt weirder and weirder, so I slowed way down. Luckily. Suddenly, the handlebar was no longer connected to the front wheel. The steer tube had just worn through from years of use and, probably, rust. Try riding a bike that way. I ended up pushing the bike the rest of the way (three miles, at a brisk trot because I had to get to a meeting.) I had to old on to the seat and steer the bike by tilting it this way and that.

That was the second time in 2017 that a bike suddenly had no steering. On the Rivendell this summer I went wobbling off the road when the stem came undone from the threadless adapter. Very glad it didn't happen as I was barreling down a Leelanau Hill.

Brushes with death, indeed.