Yesterday was not the normal after the race ride/rest/training day. The weather was coming in and I wanted to get out and ride. But, just leaving, my bike wouldn’t shift. Pushing the right lever shows 5 flashing red lights, meaning, I think, a dead battery. So, I turned around and went back to try to charge it just a little. But, that didn’t work.
Sue hadn’t ridden the day before and was antsy to ride, so I decided to just head out with her anyway. I was stuck in a 39 x 17, which you’d think would be good, but it really was a little too easy. We were just doing a lap of White Rock Lake, just 30 miles, but by the time we got down to the lake, it was sort of raining. The system was off to the west, so I decided we should head a little east to try to stay away from the lightening. It was getting close to the bad traffic time in Dallas, after 3, but the quickest way back was on Garland, which is a diagonal up towards Richardson.
Anyway, it didn’t work. Pretty soon it was down pouring. But, worse, lightening. Like everywhere. I’m kind of a hard guy to scare and I intellectually understand how little a chance there is to be struck by lightening, but it was still scary. Plus, the traffic was terrible.
We ended up riding just 30 minutes in this and made it back frozen. It is so funny how one minute, I can be riding in a cut-off sleeve jersey and the next, completely frozen. And I forgot how stiff you get after riding in the cold rain.
So, I’m gonna be messin’ with my Di2 today. The battery isn’t charging at all. I guess I’m going to take the battery out of the seat tube and make sure it isn’t grounded or something. I might take it over to Richardson Bike Mart and see if they have that diagnostic tool to check it out. It is weird, but other than a frame breaking, I’ve never been in a situation where my bike doesn’t work and I can’t really fix it, or maybe, don’t know how to fix it. I guess as I get more familiar with the Di2 stuff, this will seem basis, but I haven’t learned this yet.
Okay, I’d better get on it. There is a local training race I was hoping on doing tonight, if the weather holds and I can get my bike working. It is strange, but I feel a weird uneasiness with my bike dysfunctional.
Update-All good on the Di2 front. Kevin at RBM hooked up the diagnostic equipment and tracked it down to the battery. Shimano sent him out a new battery, so he just pulled one out of stock (how many shops in the country have an internal Di2 battery in stock). So, I’m good to roll.
Bromont was chasing a duck through the neighborhood.
When it gets bad in the Dallas area, it seems pretty bad.
I saw this coyote a White Rock yesterday.
He finally ran off when I went back to check him out.
Water was pouring out of a pillar at a local shopping mall. I have no idea what the problem is to have this brick column full of water, but something is really wrong.
Kevin doing bench work with a computer.
Bromont and the duck 🙂
Is that weird water Column by the Kroger store on north Shiloh? There cannot be 2 of these.
You should have used my guy for the battery
Imagine if you actually had to pay for that stuff? Is it worth the hassle if you lived in some small town somewhere that has a tractor supply company and a crappy old shop
Yep Jordan – On Shiloh. What’s up with that?
I just broke one of my mountain bikes frames and feel helpless..
Hollywood had a dead battery last month on our ride.. Nice that you can just pick a gear..and ride..
One more reason di2 sucks.
Let me guess, euro…you can’t afford it and/or you never tried it. Mine has work flawless for 4 1/2 years. Never had to replace a cable, like you did. Never had adjust the shifting, like you did. Funny how the the haters of technology come out when a rare incident like this happens.
Guys-I don’t see it as any difference than that if a frayed shifter cable or broken spoke. Just something that needs attention every once in a while. I rode two years, including cross on Di2 and had absolutely no issues. This was just a bad battery. 24 hour, next day, replacement turn around. Seems okay to me.
Steve – don’t forget, CCD is right next door to both the Garland Rd RBM and the RBM on Coit & Campbell. We have classes in the AM and PM, and yes, we have a Di2 charger. If you’re in Dallas and the weather is bad, come on by – we’d be honored to host you and your posse. Plus, don’t forget – we have to get that Wheaties poster of you Signed and Framed!
I thought so too until a lightning bolt hit a tree 2 yards from where I was passing the summit of a local hill on one of my rides couple years ago. If it wasn’t for that tree it would have hit me and I wouldn’t be writing this. That was really scary. I was in shock and deaf for at least an hour after that incident…
Wrong Steve Manthey. I can afford it, and have tried it. Reminds me too much of a moue click. I prefer the tactile feel of mechanical shifting any day over the artificial clik of i2. I wouldn’t call myself a hater of technology. Jut a hater of useless technology.