Inadequacy...

Okay, this isn't actually a state road ride entry, but it is still road riding so it's going on the blog. So Monday morning I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. I love my job and I like to think that I am pretty good at what I do (I work at Alta View Hospital in the laboratory) but I have A LOT of stuff that I have to do every night I work. Well, lately I have been trying to improve in some areas and it seems that when I get better in one area I start to slack in another. I also have kind of been neglecting Kathy Jo, because I have been sleeping a LOT when I get home from work and because it was the weekend, and she was home, she didn't get to see me... even though I was only in the next room (she REALLY has been a good sport about my work schedule this week). So... I felt bad about work, I felt bad about leaving Kathy Jo alone at night, and alone during the day, I feel bad about money, Kathy Jo's brothers stayed over the weekend (I really do love them but sometimes, the can be a bit much) and... *sigh*... I was feeling VERY inadequate. I got home around 7:30 that morning and I was pretty frazzled so... what did I do... I decided to ride my bike up Mill Creek Canyon... nothing better than a good hard climb to help you forget your worries. I started from my place, rode up Creek Road (a GREAT ride) then hit Wasatch Blvd (another awesome road). The Canyon takes off from Wasatch, so it was a good stiff climb to the top. When I got to the top of the canyon, I turned around and thought "Today is the day I break 50 mph..." I think there is a higher power that begged to differ because as soon as I started descending, I noticed my chain slipping. I went to mash the pedals and the crank slipped something wicked, the chain fell off the crank and I just about fell off the bike at 45 mph. Because the chain kept slipping, I could only go 35 down the canyon and I pulled into the bike shop near the mouth of the canyon and the guys there said it would probably be a good idea for me to get a new crank... It was hard... but I reluctantly (with all my heart) agreed that a new crank was probably (I've been wanting a new crank since I bought the bike a year ago) the best course of action. I rode to K Jo's work to tell her my story and the bad (glorious) news. I showed her the one (yeah one) tooth on the chain ring that was bent (which was making the chain fall off) and she, without any help from me, said, (no seriously she said this on her own) "I guess that means you need a new crank"... (Inside, I'm going YES!) So I say to her, "That's probably a good idea." I drove the car home with the bike on top and it looks like I will be getting a new crank. The ride was somewhere between 44 and 48 miles, and from my place to the top of the canyon is somewhere around 22 miles and around 3200 feet above it. (Google tells me one thing, my GPS tells me another) Here is the Google map and the elevation profile in all it's wonderfulness. Enjoy! Thanks for reading


Chris

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