Great ride today with Leandra and Julie. That is until Leandra's chain got jammed between two cogs on the rear cogset. How does something like this happen? Well, turns out when the cassette lockring is loose, the cogs will do all sorts of wobbling around and if you try to shift, it's not going to work. Normally, this would have been a disastrous, potentially ride-ending problem. But, never fear, Super Biker Woman to the rescue! Yes, strangely enough, I just happen to have a Lockring Removal Tool in my arsenal of tools I carry on Stella.
To back up abit, several months ago I asked my Touring Guru, Patrick at Old Town, what would I do in the event that I broke a spoke on the drivetrain side of the rear wheel (the most common side to break a spoke) while I was touring? He said they used to make a small Lockring Removal Tool (the regular one is quite large to carry). He looked up the company online to see if they still made it. Alas, they did not. So, I was left to hope that if I did break a spoke on the drivetrain side that the emergency spoke kit I carry would allow me to fix it without removing the cassette. Anyway, a couple of months ago when I got my latest Adventure Cycling Source Catalog I noticed that, low and behold, they had a small Lockring Removal Tool. Of course, I immediately ordered it!
Back to today's ride. We had just come up the nasty hill on 79th to Zangle when Leandra's chain got stuck. First, I used my Leatherman's tool to unstick the chain. Then I noticed how loose the cogs were. So, we took the wheel off and I got out my trusty tool and tightened the lockring. Put the wheel back on and, ta-da, problem fixed! Gotta say, PRETTY AWESOME!!
The rest of the ride went well. As for Julie, today was her longest (by double almost) ride ever! 62 miles! Way to go Julie!
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