For about an hour this morning, only one of the four bicycles I own was in working condition. This was down from two the hour before because I ripped off the left crank during the last few miles of this morning's ride. After failing to reattach the crank using a tiny Allen wrench I borrowed from a passerby cyclist, and after deciding not to dandy-horse it home the six or sever miles remaining, I phoned Laura for a rescue. But other than that the ride was a good one.
Unlike that time I used sheer herculean lower body strength to rip apart a chainring on my fixed-gear Schwinn, this morning's bike destruction was due to negligence. I started my ride (and Tuesday's ride) knowing that the crank bolt had fallen out sometime on my Sunday ride. The only things keeping the crank attached to the bottom bracket were the two hex bolts on the cranks—I recommended against riding a bike like this. Those two hex bolts held for eighty miles or so before letting go and stranding me. Fortunately, neither I nor the bike incurred any permanent damage, as far as I know.
What about my other two non-working bikes, the ones that weren't working at the start of the day? One is the Schwinn I wrecked. The other is a used road bike I bought off Craigslist to replace the Schwinn. It's a sun-faded and slightly rusted Benotto 10-speed I think I can make into a working beater bike suitable for leaving locked up in public places. It's non-working because it's missing a chain, tires, tubes, and rim tape. After acquiring rim tape today (when I picked up the new crank bolt at the nearby bike shop), I'm now ready to get the Benotto cruising.
Hopefully, I'll soon be up (and down) to three-out-of-three working bikes.
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