Broken Dreams, Broken Seat Tube

Posted by D-Rex on November 16, 2008 under Uncategorized | 4 Comments to Read

Now, I’ve been in Bend long enough to see a few things. And I don’t want to be accused of any kind of negativity. Of course I want it to snow buckets and buckets, the sooner the better. But when nature (or climate change) brings us a late November weekend with sunny skies and temps in the 70s, well, can you blame me for wanting to get outside? No. We all know that the sun may go away and not be seen for months…Ok that’s probably Post Willamette Stress Disorder (PWSD) speaking. But seriously, how nice was this weekend?
Maybe it was a perfect storm of sorts, a sunny Friday afternoon and no snow on the trails all the way up to Swede Ridge Shelter. Late November and I’ve been drinking Jubelale by the case for over a month. So it should not have been a big surprise when half way to the shelter, on the ridge looking down at Tumalo Creek my frame decided it had had enough. I felt a ‘pop’ and thought I had broken a seat post bolt. When I looked down, I saw this:

Holy God.
Jeffery at Sunnyside Sports assured me that this is precisely why Trek frames have a lifetime warranty, but I think he was being polite. I cannot wait for snow to cover the landscape and the cold north wind to blow, for every time that I looked west this weekend and saw the rolling, timbered hills beckoning to me, with the smooth, hard single track and tourist-free trail heads, I immediately felt a stabbing sensation and pangs of guilt for having ruined the one thing that has been there for every ride that I asked of it, that has never flaked out at the sight of rain or seeping dark. The one thing that was comforting to me during this snowless, warm November. The one thing that I could punish, toss, endo, bounce and not kill. It continued to carry me over certainly painful drops, roots and rocks, right up to the end.
Goodbye and thank you, 2004 Trek Liquid 25. We hardly knew ye.