I don't know what made me decide to share this story. I guess that it was just an interesting turn of events:

I was on an XC bike ride the other day, on a local trail, nothing too crazy. I was cruising on a slight decline. When I reached the flat, it had a slight rise to it, so I wanted to shift down.

When I shifted and started to pedal, there was excessive spin. Different from when the chain comes off, there was a rattling sound, almost like a metal cup across prison bars. Needless to say, I stopped to assess the situation.

It didn't take long to see the problem. One of the jockey/pulley wheels on the rear derailleur was gone, vamoosed, absent. I said "oh dear" or words to that effect. Rather than face a long walk in either direction, I took the sensible decision to track back and look for the missing part.

I wondered if the thread on the bolt was striped, so I could be in for a long walk either way, even if I find the offending article(s). Oh well, it is what it is, let's see what I can resolve of this inconvenience.

I head back in the opposite direction, with my eyes glued to the floor. It must be on this stretch, because I would have noticed otherwise. My CSI style; combing of the area paid off, when I spotted the pulley wheel, sat peacefully on the ground without a single care in the world.

Not only did I find the pulley wheel, it still had its bearing and its bolt. The bolt seemed in perfect condition, as did the thread on the cage plate. I stupidly didn't have a spanner with me, so I had to finger-fasten everything back into place.

There we go, that should hold, though I should take it easy just to be on the safe side. My hands were covered in grease, which wasn't really a big deal, but I didn't fancy getting the grease inside my gloves. It wouldn't mean the end of the world, but there was a puddle nearby, so I thought I may aswell get some of this grease off my hands.

Some of the grease came off, though my hands were still well-oiled. At this moment, two passers-by emerged, walking what I presume were two very fit dogs. They noticed my predicament and asked, in a manner of friendly conversation; if my chain had come off. I explained my situation, to which they expressed some polite sympathy.

One of the chaps give me a good piece of advice, which should have been common sense really, but I just didn't think of it. He suggested I find some dry soil, and rub that into my hands, acting like a scrub. I thanked him for the advice, and they departed.

Good idea, I may as well get this crap off my hands. I grabbed a generous handful of soil in each hand, and slapped my palms together. I scrubbed away at the grease, and could feel the soil removing the film that had coated my hands. I washed my hands in the puddle, and they came out as good as new.

Who needs Swarfega when you've got nature? There was not a single trace of grease on my hands. That was a nice result, I thought to myself. I jumped back on my bike and headed home, without a single glitch.

I don't know what caused the pulley wheel to come off. Maybe it just gradually worked its way off, maybe I was the victim of tampering, maybe it was divine intervention Either way, it happened, no point crying over spilt milk.

The very fact that the pulley wheel came off was unfortunate, but the proceeding events were very fortunate. Of course, it wasn't a major transfer of luck, though it was an advantageous one, which left me with a very pleasant feeling for the relaxed ride home.

Have you had a similar thing ever happen to you? Have you had your luck turn at the perfect moment? There have certainly been greater turns of luck that have been experienced in the world; but this event, though on a small scale, had enough amplitude to leave me feeling thoroughly content for the rest of the day.

Peace

Macre

I love when things like that happen... and yes, I've had very groovy turns of "luck" as well. Consider, if you will, that your personal inner magnetism drew that experience to you. I'm a firm believer in "we attract what we need". That being said, it's still no less a wonderful feeling to manifest such an excellent experience.

Blessings

I agree with you Pup, there are many times in my life when I have recognised this. I also believe we get tested from time to time, and that we need to learn from our mistakes; as part of the same process.

Peace

Macre