4 girls and a chain tool

I should've posted this when it happened, but alas, I'll try to remember the best I can - it was, after all, one of the funnest rides I've ever had.

I should start with the email sent to Lauren, Holly, Cayce, and myself for the mtb ride on the first saturday in October 2005.

"hey guys i'm in too. i'll meet you at lauren's at 830am. I need to be back home NLT 1030a so i may sneak off at some point and zip home. but looking forward to seeing you all on saturday!!

better get my bike out now! it's in the shed and needs a little TLC before we head out."

Little did I know how much TLC it was gonna get!

The ride started out well, as we did the usual loop at Redwood starting at the Dunn Trailhead. We took a break before embarking up Canyon trail which we all knew would be a doozy. The goal, as always, was to clean the hill all the way to the top.

About a 1/3 of the way up, it was Cayce and I left to manage the dirt. Some wood chips had been laid to help with traction or moisture from rains, I'm not sure. At one point, one of the chips got stuck in my wheel and I had to work even harder to get the wheel to turn. After trying to dodge some hikers who refused to get out of our way while we grunted up the hill, I had to dismount. I got back on the bike, followed Cayce and rode the rest of the way up the hill and waited for the group.

After a long break and a few laughs about the climb, we headed west on West Ridge - my bike was doing okay, but then started shifting poorly. I couldn't figure out what was wrong and continued riding. Finally after a few, ka-chunks and some grinding, my chain gave in and broke. I got off the bike and checked out the situation.

No way! A broken chain? I've never had a broken chain. Uh, this sucks. We all stop and stare at the chain while all concluding how much this sucks. Well, so what? We can fix it. Who has a chain tool? I don't but out of 4 girls, 2 do. Not bad. So we all look at the chain tool. Have any of us ever used one? No, we haven't. But we're smart girls, we can figure it out. But let's see if anyone else might be able to help us out. Why not? A couple boys ride by and dont even bother to look at us. They obviousily have no clue how to operate any bike tool.

So we start trying to figure it out. Hmmm, we must somehow use this tool to put the chain back together. Chain made of links and pins. Oh yeah, so we need to pop out the pins, hook up the links and put the pins back in. So this tool must help us do that. But how? Cayce takes control and starts to unscrew the chain tool and appy said tool to the chain. Ah-ha! This is how we do it. No wait, that's not working. Hmmmm. Lets try this - no, that's not it either, the pins not coming out. Hmmmm.

Oh, look here comes some guys that look experienced. Oh they are, they're actually stopping and asking how we're doing. We admit that we're not sure how to use the tool and the guy helps us out. Turns out we were on the right track just needed a little elbow grease. So now our chain is ready to be put back together. But now it seems as if it's too short a bit. No worries, we'll just put the chain on and have it go on a shorter gear. I jsut wont be able to upshift much. No problem. Chain on. Off we go! woo hoo!

Hmmm, my chain is slipping. Ka-chunk, ka-chunk. I can't seem to keep my chain on the cog. Oh this sucks. I"m laughing at this point. Hysterically. I'm barely moving forward cause my chain is a mess. Let's stop and re-assess the situation.