Week Twenty-Six - Day Three: Mechanical Problems

BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 27 min.
TIME BACK: 26 min. (from a different building on campus than usual)
WEATHER: a few clouds, -9C, 4 km/hr wind there; clear, 3C, 4 km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: fleece pants, t-shirt, fleece jacket, double gloves (just running gloves on the way home), balaclava
NOTES:

Can I just say, to the gentlemen of the world: if you are an adult male and I see you cruising the streets on your way to work on a bike, you officially become 3x more attractive to me than if you were a pedestrian or driver (and let's say 5-10x more attractive than if you were driving a truck or Hummer). But I digress . . .

I seem to be having mechanical trouble. Yesterday on the way home from work, the chain started making a horrendous grinding sound that made it sound like it was on the verge of exploding and its remnants catching fire. This heinous sound was loud - pedestrians on the other side of 4-lane major roads were staring at me in horror as I biked past. When I got stopped at a red light, I hopped off the bike and spun the pedals around with my hands while looking at the chain to see if I could spot any abnormalities. I couldn't. So I just got back on the bike and hoped to hell I'd be able to get home without spontaneously combusting. Thankfully, I did get home okay, and after a good brush-down of the whole drive train yesterday evening the bike wasn't complaining today.

Unfortunately, I've been coming up against another mechanical issue - my knee has been getting sore again lately. My right knee is prone to illiotibial band syndrome. It's something that was actually quite debilitating and required physiotherapy during my Master's degree, ending my years-long committed relationship with elliptical machines. This is why I bought a relatively cheap bike for commuting this year - with a bad knee, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to bicycle every day for a year or if I'd try it then have to give up after a month. What's the point of spending over $1000 on a bike if I'd hardly use it? Good thing that hasn't been the case!

The knee pain does worry me, though. I remember I had some mild soreness in that knee at the very beginning of my bike-commuting experiment, but it went away as my thighs got stronger. My legs are stronger than ever now, but the soreness is returning. It's mild, and really not that big a deal, but it's definitely something to keep an eye on. Here's hoping it goes away with some stretching and more conscientious riding technique (i.e., keeping my toes pointed forward on the pedals instead of letting them point in towards the bike as they tend to naturally).