Sunday 3 July 2011

BB ist kaputt

Started off very well today on the same circuit as last week, getting up the early climbs in higher gears for longer and generally faster I felt. It was a few degrees cooler, so my water bottles did not need to be refilled today at any of the decorative drinking fountains which are found in all Swiss towns and villages. Any broken or dirty fountains will have a "kein trinkwasser" sign on them, but theres not so many marked like this.
So the Passwang was climbed, Brunnersberg looped and I was also enjoying the descents more today due to at least one half of my Wiggle order arriving on time, some new Campag brake pads. The power in braking with new pads is remarkable, this really gave me more confidence and of course I know the roads better now.
The other half of my Wiggle order, a campag 11 speed chain has failed to arrive as they are out of stock and its not going to arrive before next weekend now. Or at least if it does, I wont be able to find a shop to fit it and have confidence that the chainwheel and block are not worn along with the old chain.

Back up the Passwang, and then the sharp right and up the linking climb which deserves to have a name, Aebi pass? Here some very loud clicks and cracks began to appear, from where? The cracks were loud and carbon sounding, a very scary sound indeed. Was it the seatpost, headset? After stopping for a short inspection, and pedalling on, it was clear the sounds came from the bottom bracket. Some grit, a stone perhaps?
I'm able to pedal freely, and descend the wonderful road to Grellingen where a Swiss rider sits on my wheel for the descent. Its far too fast to stop and point out the problem here, but I point to my bottom bracket and he can hear the cracking sound when I pedal. We stop at the bottom, and I try to find out if he can recommend a Campag mechanic, but all we can manage to understand is that the shops open on Monday, and that the bottom bracket "ist kaputt"
The final climb is not an option today and I limp home (at a decent speed still) and can do no more about the bike until tomorrow, as of course all shops of any description are closed on Sunday.

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