Bikepacking Hobble L-R

Since I said I’d talk about bikepacking some, let me tell you about a recent (not completely successful trip). Before I continue on my summary version, let me tell you a better full version is here.

We had already canceled one planned trip (to the San Rafael well) in late March. We were starting to feel better about local trips (given the pandemic curve etc.), So we headed off. The picture at the top was from the day before the ride when I was doing a test run with the bike loaded (but dry water bottles).

It ended more or less at this point (within a mile of the campsite or so) when this happened. Ouch

Correct, you should not be able to see daylight/greenery through that part of the wheel where the hub attaches to what we call the free hub body.

Anyhoo, we had an enjoyable night cooking, camping and chatting. Weather was great overall as noted in the other post. On day 2, Matt and his sons carried on and I used my Garmin inReach (we were well out of range by then) to get a hold of my wife and coordinate a pickup after coasting and walking the bike out a bit. Still, here’s some pics from the trip that I’d like to share.

The Trail

More Trail

Even More Trail

Crossing Some Water

PS

I don’t think it was just my wheel that I damaged. I went out riding recently (same bike, different wheelset) and noticed some play in the cranks/chainring. Later that night, I removed the crank and found this busted bottom bracket. So, that’s been added to the repair list.

Busted BB

I’m hoping DiamondBack will warranty the wheel (< 1 year old, although I ride it a lot). Was just about to start the rebuild process on my own today not having heard back from them. Litterally as I go to start dismantling the wheel, I get an email notification from them about my submission. It’s not more than verification of receipt and “a specialist will be assigned …", but it’s verification by a human at least, so maybe there’s hope still :shrug:.