Wednesday Night Chain Gang – Moda Madness

A fantastic turnout again last night, with around 35 riders starting the chain gang and riding in good, dry, near windless conditions. It’s really great to see such numbers – a real boost for the club and for local cycling.

A large first group of supers/ultras made off at a comfortable pace, retaining most starters for a good distance along the Bexhill and Cooden stretches of the route. Joe Kingsman looked keen, but the marvellous Stuart Hodd was out of sorts with mechanical issues (more on this later). Neil Shier was in cheeky form but for the most part we rode at a more restrained pace than usual – not by much, but noticeable nonetheless.

At the Cooden Hotel bends (does someone know a better name?) we were still a sizeable group. This caused some nervous moments as some riders in the outside line cut across others on the inside line of the sharp corners in front of the hotel onto Herbrand Walk. As is traditional, the pace increased at this point. Neil Shier said something to me about hanging on up the hill, but I’m not sure if he meant the slight rise on Herbrand, or later on Spooky Hill. I did my best Neil!

I was pleased again to hang on to the group along Herbrand, helped I think by the generally patchy attempts to rotate the lead. I hit the front not long after the level crossing and led for distance through the twists and turns of the stretch to the Star Inn. Others came past and upped the pace further, with some slightly hairy manoeuvres, but perhaps I’m just getting nervy in my old age. We sorted ourselves out by the time we reached Normans Bay, hitting the bottom of Spooky Hill at a good pace.

I hung on better than last week, keeping in reasonable touch with the genuinely fast riders, making progress with a group of four in a somewhat dysfunctional mini-chain. We could not settle into a rhythm that satisfied me, with the pace varying too much to ensure efficient riding – people were tearing off and then blowing up, rather than working as a team, but we managed to stay together, more or less.

On the return leg, Peter B and I tucked in behind Stuart Hodd, before a couple of riders rotated pass and the return leg started in earnest. It was pretty confusing from then on, with various loose groupings forming and breaking apart. I managed a good speed up the western slopes of Spooky Hill, staying with a group both up and down the other side, then across the marshes and along Herbrand. Again, I didn’t feel that the chain really got going properly, perhaps because there was too varied a mix of riding abilities. Once on Cooden, more moderately paced riders caught us up and a new group pushed on to the lights.

If that sounds a bit disappointing, it wasn’t really. I enjoyed a good ride at a decent pace, but I would have appreciated a bit more structure to the ride ie better through and off / rotating the front riding. But as a Jonny-come-lately I know there are better and more experienced riders who might think differently.

Despite Pete's Support Malc Looks Anxious before His First Chain Gang

Frankly, I was pleased to be riding at all. I broke a gear cable on a ride on Saturday (easy to fix), and then broke the Ultegra shifter on Sunday (less easy, rather expensive). £90 poorer and without the new shifter yet to hand, I had on Wednesday afternoon the prospect of riding the chain with the gears stuck on the 11T cog, albeit on the 39T front ring. That’s a pretty stiff gear for a ‘spinner’ such as me, requiring that I stand on the pedals for anything other than downhills and flat roads. The bike was rideable, but only just, and I was possibly a risk to others.

Step forward the very generous Mr Peter Buss, making available to me his commuter ride: a smart looking black and white Moda with Tiagra groupset. I had only to ride from Bexhill to his place in Normans Bay, swap pedals and then potter over to the start with him and Stewart B. Perfect!

Well, I made my way to Peter’s fairly easily and removed my pedals swiftly. Next step, get Peter’s pedals off the Moda. Hmmm, not very cooperative. I tried a bit harder, with some WD40 squirted around the threads, but no joy. Peter held the opposite crank so that I could really push. Nope, still no movement.

‘Perhaps a gentle tap with the hammer?’ said Peter. Good idea, I like hammers! Spanner held firmly in place, Peter holding the crank again, hammer raised, hammer lowered with gentle force – tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. Hmmm. TAP, TAP, TAP, TAAAAPPPP! Peter looked on nervously. I remembered that this was not my bike and put the hammer down.

 ‘I’ve got some spare shoes Neil’, said Peter quickly, before I became too despondent. ‘Brilliant!’ I said. What’s more, they fitted – problem solved. I was sorted for the chain gang. Lights were sorted and my garmin fitted into the mount. Saddle height tweaked and we were off.

At the start, Stuart Hodd asked who was on the Moda. I confessed and relayed the story of my mechanical mishaps. Stuart reciprocated with a similar gear-related story that ended with him throwing the bike across the road and knackering a wheel. Aha, a fellow short-temper sufferer! I confess now to losing patience with my gear shifter, pushing too hard in a vain attempt to get the bloody thing to work, then feeling that sickening ‘give’ as something delicate, expensive and inaccessible broke deep within the ‘doings’. Oh shit…

Memo to self: control temper when working on the bike; maintain a zen-like state of calm; use some grease on threads you will need to undo; and leave the hammer in the toolbox.

 Or hit the offending component hard to teach it a lesson. Really hard. Twice. The choice is yours – one path leads to cheaper and easier repairs, the other path leads to bruised knuckles, feeling foolish and more debt on the credit card. And to think that I’ve mellowed with age...

Neil