Apple Fritters and Bike Mechanics

Yesterday we drove 40 minutes to meet some friends for a 30-mile ride that detoured into an apple fritter festival. We've never gone riding with these friends, so we were super excited to be finally getting out with them.  Normally I'd be nervous about being outclassed, but they were both on hybrids and haven't been training like Mr. Lady Roadie and I have, so I wasn't worried, slash, they are friends and its weird to get competitive and self-doubting in situations like this (I'm not sure what's wrong with me there).

Anyway, it was a beautiful day and I headed out in front.  Four miles into the ride, I shift as I'm starting a light ascent and appear to drop my chain, although from the reactions of the riders behind me I wondered if it was especially tangled or something.  I coasted to a driveway and looked down to see a single length of chain. My chain BROKE!

I was super bummed.  After standing around for a minute and guessing that you can't do anything to temporarily fix a broken chain, the boys rode back to get the cars and my friend and I sat down to wait.  We took a look at the chain and decided to look for the link that apparently popped off.  Somehow, my friend found it, and somehow, I figured out how to get it back on. It was the master link with keyhole-shaped holes on either side so it was just a matter of slipping it in correctly and pulling the chain tight. Another cyclist stopped when he saw us in trouble and helped out, providing some crucial moral support.

When the boys came back with the cars I was riding up and down the driveway problem-free.  We ended up leaving the cars nearby and finishing the ride, with a bonus 4 miles as we repeated the beginning of the ride to get to the cars. It was a gorgeous day, lots of horse farms, lots of manageable hills -- basically my favorite type of ride.  (I did get called the n-word by a passing driver, which was especially confusing since I'm not black).  Overall, a success.  Everyone got their apple fritters!

However, I do still have bike grease on my hands.