Today I was enjoying myself in the Reichswald just across the border from Nijmegen where I usually ride. I knew a nice route through the Reichswald because of a GPS track I saved from a previous event. The Reichswald is a really nice forest and it is much more quiet than the Dutch part.

Picture from Groesbeek.

Entry to the Reichswald.

When I was almost done, all of a sudden I heard a noise. Just like some branch getting in the wheel. Well, nothing special, so I stopped but to my great surprise the derailleur hanger was broken. This was really remarkable as I exerted very little force as it happened. Probably something (rock or branch) was the cause of it.

What to do now? Trying to repair or continue walking (the GPS told me it was about 6km to go). Since walking is basically not done, I decided to try to fix it. Luckily I had bought a spare derailleur hanger some months ago that I could use. Using that, the problem was quickly fixed, so I packed all my kit again and continued.

Then, all of a sudden, pedalling with no force… oh no, the chain broke. Probably the chain was the cause of the problem in the first place (got stuck somehow), and was weakened by the incident. Well, I can fix that too. Examining the chain, I just had to remove two parts (shortening by one link). Doing all this was easy with the Parktool MTB-3 multi-tool. Since I also brought power links, fixing it should be easy. O no, I could only find a half power link. That wil not work. Luckily I also brought some Shimano connector pins so I used those (does that sound prepared or not?).

After all this, I could cycle again, but not really, as the sheer force of the breaking of the derailleur hanger also caused some damage to the cable. Therefore, I decided to cycle back to the car, which is an easy thing with the routing on the GPS.

Rest in pieces.

Damage to the rear derailleur cable.

Why am I telling all this? Well, I am just happy that I finally got to really use my multi-tool and a lot of spare parts so that I could cycle back instead of walking. At least I am not carrying all that stuff for nothing. It also feels great if you can solve problems on the trail yourself. Feels like a victory.

Last but not least, make a note of 25th October Veldtourtocht Reichswald-Mookerheide.