You dirty little mother fu....

So, if you ride, you bike has had a creak. You know the one. The creak that is incessant, wholly bothersome, and won't go away. The creak that requires you chase it, only for you to feel like Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius, chasing the Road Runner.
Yeah...welcome to my life for the past week.
At FoTD, it started. medium to high pitched, obviously in the cranks. Not a deep enough sound for it to be BB creak/knock.
As I could do nothing then, I rode it.
I figured it was chainring bolts. The Ridley had been ridden in the rain several times over the previous month. That shit happens, right?
Nope. Pulled the bolts. Cleaned and greased. Still creaking.
A couple more rides, and it didn't go away. Sometimes creaks go away.
Pedals off. Axles and crank holes cleaned and greased.
Nope. Not the pedals.
Well, it's probably time to pull the BB anyway...
Rotor cranks off the bike. BB pulled. Everything cleaned and greased. Honestly, it needed it.
Re-install. Test ride.
CREEAAAK.
GD it!!!!!!!!
Back down in Service Course, and nearly out of brain power, I stared at the bike. Wondering if it would float after I threw it in the river.
Upon standing, I noticed something. The little nub on the big ring...you know, the one that keeps the chain from getting caught between the crankarm and big ring (should one throw the chain over the outside)?

That 4mm piece of alu had broken loose (shouldn't), moved, and become wedged against the crankarm (again, shouldn't).
Every time the cranks flexed under pressure, it rubbed...and creaked.
Big ring off. Dremel tool out. Bye Bye you dirty little mother fuc....
Cleaned. Reinstalled. Test ride.
No more creak.
3-ish hours. Overhauled the cranks, pedals, and BB. Ain't it always the way?

The Vuelta is going on. Crashes are wiping people out. Neutral service motos are wiping people out. Dudes are testing discs.
That being said, some BRUTAL racing is going on.

Today's stage. What the what? Dumoulin is riding a 34/28 today...

Ouchies....

Remember the Porsche that Matt Brammeier hit (or the Porsche that kept him from flying into the woods...)?

Yeah...that's not gonna buff out...
I ran it through the Mitchell Manual software. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $15k damage.
Ouchies all the way around...

Weird ride last night. We went out SLOOOOW. Too many people. Too many people feeling heroic b/c we were going slow. Rushing the front. Riding beyond their skill level. I had a bad feeling about it, but I knew it wasn't going to catch me out.
At the end of Old Wire, I turned around and rode home at tempo.
Don't know what, if anything, happened...
I got my saddle time, and got rid of more "stuff".

Thinking I might head out to The Powerstation this morning to spin the legs....

Happy Dromedary Day....