Super welcome from JP and Co at the start; this is one of the best starts to an audax there is.
First part of the ride plan worked (to TT the flat part) - and this was the longest we've ever kept up with Flatearthbob on a ride and we were in danger of beating the clock to the first control.
Our ride ended pulling away from the R@T in Bunbury, opposite the church. With no warning, the rear hub let go just as we were putting full get-away power through. Needless to say, such trauma meant we had no time at all to unclip, and we both hit the deck with a crunch.
boabacca: "You ok?"
Me: "Ugh... Not really, you?"
boabacca: "Not really."
We picked ourselves up from all over the road and reassured a Nice Lady in a car that we seemed OK. We swore a lot (opposite the Church too for crying out loud, sorry God) and checked ourselves over - thankfully only minor bruises and contusions.
The bike was unrideable - a hub full of neutrals once again. We swore a hell of a lot at the bike.
We walked to the shop where most riders were doing PoP duties. I flipped the wheel to our emergency single speed sprocket which we fitted after the last time this happened, so we could at least get ourselves back to base. We ate food, and contemplated our lot in the company of others, but then got underway to limp home (there was no way we had the appetite to try and fix it, although we had spares with us, nor attempt the rest of the ride on a single speed tandem).
However - it then got worse. The single speed sprocket clearly wasn't going to play nicely with the new chain I'd fitted last week, and it was skippier than a family-sized packet of Skips. We tried various configurations of chain/sprocket/chain-ring/derailleur, but to no avail. So we had to walk/freewheel/skipitty-skip ride to the nearest place that looked like it might have a pub/cafe; and that turned out to be Tarporley.
We had a totally undeserved lunch, before I took an expensive cab-ride back to Broken Cross to collect the car.
When I was back in Tarporley, bike loaded up and sitting in the car with boabacca, she said "I've had a text from Jogler. He suggests we pop into Longstaff's on the way back and see if they can sort out a wheel."
So we drove over to Longstaff's, but failed to get a replacement wheel - largely because it looked a lot like the stays had already been cold set from 135 OLN to 140 in the past, and the only Shimano hubs they had were 145s. So for now, we're tandemless - but a solution is being worked on, so we'll be back on the road again soon no doubt.
Thanks again to Jogler and Marj for providing accommodation, CAKE, and chat over the weekend, and to JP and Co for the ride organisation. We'll have another crack at it next year.