"I know that feeling. I spent more than a year preparing for a San Diego-to-Las Cruces tour-over 6,000 miles of training rides. Thirty-four miles into day one, a rag blew off the road and straight into my rear derailleur. In seconds it snapped the mech, twisted the chain, and broke multiple spokes. The bike was done-unrideable. I stood on the shoulder staring at a dream that just evaporated because of a gust of wind."
"The first wave is disbelief. Then anger. Then the silence where you wonder if you wasted all that time. But the truth shows up when the emotions settle: the work wasn't wasted. Your legs don't forget the miles. Your lungs don't forget the climbs. The discipline you built doesn't vanish because the plan did. Pivot Without Quitting I didn't quit. I changed direction. Instead of the long tour, I went after single-day events: Tour de Gap, Hotter 'n Hell, Day of the Tread. New finish lines, same purpose. The road changed, but the reason stayed the same."
A long-planned San Diego-to-Las Cruces tour collapsed early when a rag lodged in the rear derailleur, snapping the mech, twisting the chain, and breaking spokes. Initial reactions included disbelief, anger, and silence, followed by the realization that months of training still mattered. Fitness, lung capacity, and discipline persisted despite the ruined plan. The response shifted toward single-day events and local targets to preserve purpose and momentum. Key outcomes included maintained fitness, scalable training habits, intact cycling identity, and perspective that bad luck can end a ride but not an entire season.
Read at Theoldguybicycleblog
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