The Whitehead Option

I was standing alone in the woods, it was now dark, and something up the hill was making a squeaking noise, like a pig---or a rabbit who's being eaten alive. My decades-old seatpost had just snapped in half. I'd hoped that the severed top half would simply insert into the seat tube and be much lower, but because of the way it broke, that was not going to happen without a file. Needless to say, I wasn't carrying one. Nor did I have time to use it even if I was. 

So there I stood, with my new leather saddle and a bag of tube and tools in my hand. I WAS close to a road, so that I could stash them both and come back later, but we're talking about $40 worth of supplies in a $20 bag, under a $75 saddle---not to mention that I'd have to explain to my wife if by some chance they weren't there when I returned. I decided I'd just hold onto them. 

I tried using the bag's straps to attach it all to the frame. This interrupted my pedaling and moved around, bringing the new saddle dangerously close to the spinning tire. Not a good option. Then holding the seat rails in one hand while also gripping the handlebars. 

But after a little walking with the bike, I realized that I could remove the bag from the seat, remove the broken post, and have 3 relatively compact packages, that would fit in jersey and jacket pockets.

*******

The year was 1986. Racer Cindy Whitehead was competing in a mountain bike race called the Sierra 7500 in Bishop, CA. About 1 mile into the 50-mile race, she pushed her bike through a sandy section and jumped back on, only to have the seat break off underneath her. She went on to win the race, riding 49 miles of it without a seat. It was a legendary performance that's still talked about 32 years later.

*******

I rode to a small  dirt road that led back toward the parking lot where I'd started my ride. Thankfully, this had street lights---and potholes. But as I approached the bigger road that led to the car, I realized it was night, and a busy street connecting two towns. Would I go back into the "scary" woods (a section that I know well enough to ride it reasonably in the dark)---or face certain danger on the road?  I chose the woods. And about a minute later, the more powerful of my two headlights went out. 

I still wonder what that sound was, though.