I broke my Brooks

Amber and I rode the usual Beachwood BBQ 50 mile evening ride yesterday. On the way out we saw Greg, Stacy, and Martins completing my Four Rivers 200k brevet. It was quite cold so we both took some extra layers. We had the usual headwind.

At Beachwood I tried the hush puppies which didn't impress me, but I went' crazy and had a four-ounce glass of a chocolate, coconut stout. It was delicious. I liked the idea of a 4oz serving of beer. I can taste it but feel confident my blood alcohol level will be zero by the time I get back to the car.

Five miles from the end of the ride the tension bolt in my five year old Brooks B17 saddle broke. Perhaps this is a sign that I need to lose more weight.

It is supposed to be longer

I was able to finish the ride without any discomfort but it has to be fixed by next Saturday for the Five Rivers 300k staff ride. I ordered a new tension bolt online (five dollars plus a dollar for shipping).

My first plan was to pull the bolt from a new Brooks saddle I ordered for when this one dies but apparently Brooks uses a hydraulic press to install the bolt and I would say you need one to remove it. I don't have a hydraulic press so plan B is to either pull the bolt from the partially broken in B17 on my Trek or move the whole saddle over. The idea of riding a 300k on a partially broken in B17 is not appealing.

Update: With a strong screwdriver and a little grunting I managed to pull the tension bolt out of the B17 on my Trek 520 and install it onto the Serotta's saddle. When the replacement bolt comes from Brooks I will have such fun installing it on the Trek (not!)

New bolt on my old saddle