Tuesday Chat with Team Strava: The Best Laid Plans - When Workouts go Awry

[Jane]

Most of us have been there.  In spite of our best attempts to organize and plan our fitness related life, things just sometimes don’t work out the way you expect.

I surveyed some of my Strava Colleagues and asked them to share some of the more humorous anecdotes of when this happened to them.   Hope you enjoy!

Skippy:

When we first moved down here I needed to have an adjustment done on my hybrid bike. I took it to what I hoped would become my new local bike shop. They were fantastic and made my adjustment free of charge. I got home only to discover my pants were torn in the back and one cheek was exposed to the world. No wonder the guy helping was smiling and did the fix for free. 

Tre: 

I tried to go to the gym and my boss slacked me immediately saying she needed to get on a call within the next 15 minutes, proceeds to talk to me for 30, and my workout window closes.

Mason:

Tried mountain biking for the first time as a middle schooler on Easter day and I puked up an egg-salad sandwich on the trail.

Mona:

Last year I had gotten my bike tuned up at a local shop and had my slightly wonky tire reseated so it would ride better, and on my first ride after bringing it home I hit a piece of debris from an accident and blew my tire not even 1 mile into my ride after paying 80 bucks to get it tuned up!

Jane:  

Arrived at my gym and discovered I'd forgotten my running shoes, went home to get them.  Returned to gym to discover I had packed 2 workout shirts and zero shorts.  

Jane’s friend:

My friend was at her first SoulCycle class (for anyone not familiar, it’s an indoor cycling studio with stationary bikes).  She wasn’t familiar with the bike and started pedaling really fast with no resistance on the wheel.  The momentum threw her to the floor and the bike tipped over too.  If anyone else has managed to crash a stationary bike, we really want to hear from you.  

Charles:

A friend drove an hour to go biking with me one sunny afternoon. Less than 5 miles into the ride I get a flat and discover my spare tube bag is empty. This forced us to walk out bikes back to the car which was all uphill. I ended up paying the bill for lunch.

If you can identify with any of these scenarios, we want to know!  Drop us a reply below and tell us your best story from when things didn’t go according to plan.

Thanks for joining this week’s edition of Tuesday Chat with Team Strava.  Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any future editions.

[Jane]

Spotted this in my gym this morning.  Not sure how it happened but clearly something didn't go as planned.

[VikK]

On my fancy new road bike with thin tyres, got a puncture on the way to work, replaced. On the way home, puncture and no spares so I walk the final few km. Replace the tube at home and get another puncture on the way to work the next day, no spare as I'd just used them all.

Rolled into the first bike shop and told them to get rid of the tyres and throw them into the bin and put something more robust on asap!

[Jane]

Hi @VikK 

😃 I was smirking as I was reading your post, but I know it's not funny while you're going through it!  Thanks for sharing.

[CreakyCrank]

Such good stories! 

I think crashing a stationary bike, in a class full of people is a real win at failing... so is "being cheeky"!  I have a few to choose from myself...

• Chain Snap: Climbing a 30%+ grade, when my chain snaps and my crotch slams into the handlebar stem at max velocity
• Pedal Snap: Snapping off a pedal (also going up hill) while being chased by an angry dog (and, managing to outrun the dog pedaling with one foot).
• Oh, snap!: Going for a ride, realizing my HR strap battery was dead.... as were the two SRAM shifter batteries... as well as my power meter battery... oh, and forgot my sunglasses.  (simultaneously, my wife forgot her helmet, and also had to do a reset of her Garmin).... we just turned around and came home (not sure what else would have gone wrong)

I can't wait to read more of these!!