Wednesday 1/2/08 Leon, Nicaragua
Yesterday, as I was flying down a hill at what felt like 20 m.p.h. (my bike computer is broken so I’m making a guess at the speed), two stray dogs started biting each other and fighting 50 yards ahead of me. Just as I passed the doggy bout, one dog jumped back from the other and landed right in my way. I plowed into it at full speed. The collision threw me off my bike and sent my bike skidding on the road. The dog yelped like crazy and limped away. How it didn’t die is beyond me.
Once I had checked myself for broken bones and pulled the bike upright, I noticed the rear derailleur was slightly bent. Sure enough, when I tried to get down into first and second gear, my chain kept clicking and refused to lock into gear.
This morning, after receiving some helpful advice from a farmer who discovered me camped out in his field, I found the local bicycle mechanic. After 30 minutes and a $0.25 fee for labor, he was able to fix the derailleur so that now all of my gears work perfectly except for the eighth one. He tried to explain why he couldn’t get all of them working, but my Spanish wasn’t good enough to understand all of the bike-related vocabulary.
I don’t mind not having an eighth gear though because I rarely ride in that gear. My first and second gears, on the other hand, are crucial when I climb. I think I’ll still have another mechanic look at the derailleur to see if the problem can be be completely fixed.
Other cyclists out there–watch out for dogs! Not only do some of them have rabies, but they chase your bike and run right in front of you without notice.
Posted in Bike trip: Nicaragua
