So I did the Chicago Triathlon today as a tune-up before IMOO. I have had a pretty good season so far and have been racing well. Was hoping today would go well and I’d go into IMOO coming off a good performance. However, today was a disaster and it was all my fault. I had an okay swim (focus was on not drinking the polluted water) and I got on my bike, where I’m usually fairly strong. I just couldn’t go. I have never worked so hard to go so slow. It felt like my brakes were rubbing and my chain kept switching gears on me anytime I hit a bump (for those of you who’ve never had the pleasure of riding on Lake Shore Drive, there are A LOT of potholes out there). If I got out of the saddle at all it felt like the back wheel moved around. I had no idea what was wrong with the bike but I was certain it was something I couldn’t fix (I know nothing about bikes and my brain simply will not absorb anything I try to teach it about bikes - my brain does the same thing with trying to remember types and characteristics of wine - not sure why my brain does this with things that I love…) so I didn’t want to stop and check it out, I just wanted to finish. I was cursing my bike at every bump and blaming it for my poor performance. People were passing me like crazy and I really just wanted to quit. I haven’t worked this hard this season to suck. Finally it was over and I was no where near the time I was hoping to have so I just decided to enjoy the run. Run went fairly well and I caught a few people but I was so frustrated. Physically I felt great and felt like I had a good race in me today. Went to get my bike back out of transition and it took only a matter of seconds to figure out what was wrong with my bike. The skewer (is that the correct term) was wide open on the back tire and the bolt on the other end was barely still on there. Skewer being open was almost certainly related to my yanking my bike off the trainer and my inability to figure out that’s what was wrong while I was riding the bike given the symptoms I experienced makes me an idiot. I guess I should be glad I didn’t lose the bolt and my back tire while I was riding - things could have been much worse. However, the confidence I’ve had and which I was hoping to carry into IMOO is deflated. I know I just need to move on and should be glad this idiotic mishap happened at the Chicago Tri and not in Madison, and I know that something like this was bound to happen at some point, but I feel like I need to do a ride to prove to myself that I am okay for Madison. Plus, I need to re-establish my relationship with my bike, I was blaming it for everything when I was the idiot who could have easily fixed the skewer and I’m sure my bike is a little bitter about it. So at this point, is it stupid to put in a long confidence building ride on the bike? I am scheduled to do a two week taper so that starts tomorrow but if I put a lot of miles in tomorrow and slightly delay my taper, am I really hurting anything? Taper seems to be more an art than a science but at what point do you cross a line?
Trust your original plan. If you raced today and are doing Moo in 2 weeks I wouldn’t recommend a hard training day tomorrow. Sit down and have a heart to heart with the bike, make sure to validate it’s feelings too, and you both will come out stronger from this… 
IF you are going to ride tomorrow volume isn’t going to help IMO. Start visualizing race pace.
paw
Shake it off, you had a bad day. It means nothing in the overall scope of things. Triple check your bike before the next race and put the day where it belongs - in the rear-view mirror.
Dont change your taper becasue of this. (like above poster said)
You’re not an idiot, you just need to learn how to do a pre-ride (race) bike check. Just like flying a plane, check your bike before you get on it EVERY TIME. Then do a pre race bike check in transition before each race. Remember it’s a “check” dont make any adjustments or tighten any bolts (unless they are loose).
If you really feel clueless about checking out your bike before the next race, I’m sure there are plenty of people who will help you out to give you some peace of mind. That way you won’t get on the bike wondering if everything is alright or not.
consider yourself lucky, you’ve just learned a very valuable lesson and you didn’t have to learn it during an IM. you’re ahead of the game.
i think it was mark twain who said, ‘a man who picks up a cat by the tail learns a lesson he can learn in no other way.’
I know you are all correct and I need to shake it off and focus on the IM. Easier said than done. I have a tendency to do stupid things training wise and I am really going to fight that urge. I’m going to take the bike into the shop for a little “spa” treatment for falsely accusing it of failing me today.
Everybody does stuff like that. can’t tell you how many times I’ve taken off with my front brake still wide open, or pulled out of my shoes only to realize that I miss judged the course and still have half a mile until transition. It happens, HTFU and get over it. I guarentee you’ll never make that mistake again.
In the future, just treat your bike like an aircraft. Day before the race, do a full check from front to back; touch every piece and top off the tires. Do the same in the morning pre-race. If you still have problems, make a check list. In fact, do the check before every ride for two or three weeks until it becomes a habbit.
When you take it in to the shop, ask them if they can show you a good pre-ride check. And yes, be glad it happened today without incident.
clm
great to see you! thank god that the wheel was able to stay put eh? Kara who I was there with came with a seriously broken up bike (that is in the same shape she rode it in at IMLP!). I put a TSR Dura Ace rear der on it and she was set…you women need to take a course or two on bike stuff 
As others have said, do not change your plans. I know exactly how you feel, you want to be vindicated, but let it go. Yes, it’s frustrating, but take that frustration, put it in a bottle, and don’t open it until the last 13.1 miles in two weeks. When you need some pissed off motivation to help you push in Madison, dig that up, but in the meantime, it’s forgotten. Look at the bright side, you’re feeling great physically, imagine if you were heading into IMoo not feeling great physically, THAT would be demoralizing.
Ask Adam and Kevin to give you a written checklist to follow so that you know you’re all set on Saturday when you drop your bike off. Another suggestion for Sunday morning when you give your bike it’s little pep talk, spin the wheels just to double check that the brakes are not rubbing.
Now, go open a bottle of wine and relax!
Check out the articles on bike maintenance on Tom D’s site at www.bikesportmichigan.com there’s plenty that will be of assistance to you.
Just forget about this race, and stick to your plan. You have had so many great races this season, don’t let one bad experience stop another great one at IMMoo!
Not much to add from what everyone else has said other than to ask BermdaBill for more Mark Twain sayings…glad to hear your bike didn’t pull a Herbie LoveBug separation
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I was looking for your pink stead but didn’t see it.
I hate to fall squarely within the stereotype but I really could use an intensive course. For all the women out there who are good at taking care of their own bikes - I sincerely apologize - I suck and am giving all women a bad name. I would love to buy an old beater bike and take it apart and learn how to put it back together again but I certainly can’t do that with my bike. I’d hate to think of the destruction I would cause.
Just one question:
Would you rather have had this stuff happen during a tune up race, or your IM?
There, now sleep well knowing that in the words of T.S. Garp, your bike is “pre-disastered”
Good luck at MOO snotrocket!!!
-M
This has served me well since I was a 14 year old kid racing mountain bikes as a junior…Before every ride, squeeze both brake levers, and make sure the brake closes on the wheel or brake rotor, and then releases. Then, spin each wheel and make sure it spins freely.
You probably would have noticed your little problem when racking your bike if you had done this, and could have fixed it. This also keeps you from taking off with your brake open, skewer open, wheel in crooked, etc. It takes two seconds, and I can’t tell you how many times I have caught a very minor problem over the years.
The only time it has ever gotten me was the first time I did it on a fixed gear, wacked the Sh!t out of my shin with my pedal. You only do that once.
You really need to learn a bit about bikes though. Giving it to the shop to sort every so often won’t help you learn.
Most bike stuff is really easy and you should have spotted the open skewer pretty quickly.
I’m sure you’ll be fine for IM, but check how much time you have spent on all the training. 5 mins a week looking after your bike would help. If you’d given the bike a good clean before racing - you would have picked this up, and everyone knows a clean and contented bike goes faster.
Um, you don’t understand how to check a skewer? Okay, so you do not know much about bikes and you learned something today. Do you know how to change a flat tire? If not, I would make that a high priority before your IM.
Here’s a great “ABC” checklist for pre-ride check from the Bicycling League. Go to http://www.bikeleague.org/resources/better/beginningcycling.php for the detailed checklist.