A permanent and a malfunction

I received a message last week asking if I was interested in riding his Nottoway 213k Permanent. He mentioned that Kim a strong randonneuse from the beach would be riding and she was bringing some other riders for their first RUSA ride. I couldn’t refuse full day on the bike in the area. Besides it would make for a great training ride.

We gathered at the start of the road and we would start out rolling 5 deep. Disaster struck just 15 miles into the ride. One rider blew out her rear derailleur. An attempt to make it a fixie was made but it did not work and her ride was over. A good Samaritan with a pick up truck offered to shuttle her back to town and her vehicle. The country folk sure are nice in that part of Virginia.

In typical fashion, the wind would start out as a head wind and turn as we did. Most often, the wind in southeastern Virginia switches direction in a complete 360-degree rotation. The route features some small rolling hills and the wind. One of our posse, Pascal, from Belgium said it reminded him of home, with smaller hills.

Enjoy the photos.

Any thoughts on causes of the derailleur malfunction?