Hubris and Karma

Per an earlier blog, I take pride in being my own mechanic. Such pride occasionally turns around and bites me, often in rapid succession. So by mixing two philosophies, I  find myself at the intersection of Hubris Lane  and Karma Street, a seedy part of town no doubt.

After replacing my rear cassette, which worked very well with the new chain that had been replaced a day before, I was feeling very self satisfied. The powertrain was smoother than it had been in recent memory.

I had about 30 miles on the new component combination and was having a rather pleasant commute this morning ( as pleasant as any ride into work can be), when my chain threw a link and left me stranded about a mile from my office.

Now, typically I use a Wipperman Connex link on my chains to make them easier to service:

But, because the Connex link I had was from my old chain, and was as stretched as the old chain, I had gone ahead and used regular old chain pins to join  the latest chain. At this time I can't tell if that is where the chain failed, as that link, post pin install, looks pretty much like every other link, but I suspect that is the case.

So, once again, mechanical repairs I made cause me unpleasant drama. However, in my defense, I didn't make any stupid decisions this time, it just broke. The good news is that I had video rolling of this ride. You can't actually see the chain break, as the camera was pointed straight ahead, but you can see me pull over in dismay:




So, if you enjoy schadenfreude, and I know you do, this is a good moment for you.

Also, you may have noticed I added a live link to Yehuda Moon on my blog. I suspect the writer for that strip and I would disagree on many things, but I did see some common ground that I felt was of value. And he offered a prize drawing for blogs that linked to him.

-Evil C.