Attention To The Carlsad, CA Street Maintenance Department

Dear Fine City of Carlsbad, CA:

Please have your Street Maintenance Department remove the two abrupt bumps in the bike lane, located northbound on Coast Hwy, adjacent to the Encina Power Plant.

note - they don't look like much from this vantage, I hastily snapped the photo so as not to get blood on my phone

You see, these bumps are not all that obvious when riding your bike. Especially when your at mile fifty or so of your fifty five mile ride. Even experienced riders can lose their edge when fatigued - and two sharp rises in the road are not expected when the rest of the road is in near-perfect condition.

Riders of all levels can lose control when their bikes, sending them careening towards the pavement. Contact with which can create...

broken helmets...

broken bike parts...
and, worse of all, broken (and missing) skin...
I'll heal quickly, but replacing the helmet saddle and wheel will cost me several hundred dollars. I accept the risks inherent in road cycling and realize that I need to be aware of the road ahead. However I also expect the roads to be maintained at an adequate level. It wouldn't take a crew of two to three city workers more than a couple of hours to remove and patch these spots.

Please fix this section of road before more cyclists are injured.

Thank you,

Chris H.
Carlsbad, CA

R.I.P. The Plastic Bike, April '07-Feb '10.

This afternoon I finally got around to giving The Plastic Bike a detailed inspection, following the little "off-bike excursion" I had on the way into work on Monday.

I knew that there was some minor damage: shredded bar tape on the left side, a scuffed pedal, saddle and shifter too. Another casualty was the "composite" (fancy plastic?) Mavic rear skewer, which was barely holding together.

Removing the rear wheel revealed that a chunk of carbon was missing from the chainstay yoke:
Which also started a crack:

(as seen from the bottom)

A similar failure, but much larger and deeper wound occurred up top at the seatstay yoke:
Prior to tearing the bike down, I threw it on the scale one last time.
Not bad - especially for a Schwinn:
It had been a bit lighter with the OEM-spec'd wheels, but those were sold a couple of months ago as I lost confidence in the wheel's carbon fiber spokes.

I was a little sad to tear this bike down, it's been a reliable, fast and comfortable ride over the last few years. I just wish the frame could heal itself as my leg has. Now it's time to decide what I want as a replacement. More lightweight carbon fiber? Sturdy, timeless steel? Lust-worthy, lifetime (and super-spendy) titanium? I just know that this was my last Schwinn as the brand has abandoned the performance road segment. Until I figure it out, I'll be hitting the roads (figuratively I hope) on the CX bike.