Sometimes things just don't work out as planned.
This trip was supposed to be a 2 night car camping trip to a local State Park with a day of exploration by bike planned for the majority of Saturday. The first night went as planned, great night sky, campfire, and friends.
Saturday we ate breakfast and prepped our bikes for a day ride. No gear needed other than flat repair kits, water, and snacks. We wanted to go explore all the trails in the lower canyon that are accessible by bike. A few miles into our journey a friend was cranking up a pretty steep hill and we heard a pop followed by some profanity. I stopped and looked back expecting to see him on the ground - I thought he had gone down. Instead I see him messing with the derailluer. Turns out his chain slipped off the cassette and completely lodged between the spokes and the hub.
We had a basic multitool and enough stuff to fix a couple flats but did not have the cassette removal tool it would have taken to remove the cassette and free the chain. The back wheel was completely locked down. It would not spin even freewheel to "coast" or push it out. We didn't have a choice - it would have to be carried completely off the ground. We spent a few minutes removing everything from the bike to lighten the load. Water bottles, feedbag, pump etc. all had to go. We placed those items in a backpack work by my wife and we started the journey back - 2 walking and 1 carrying the bikes.
Shortly after we came to the idea I could take off and ride ahead, back to the campsite and get the truck, then return to meet them at the trailhead. It would cut a few miles of walking out of the plan and my bike was still rideable anyways.
We made it back to camp a few hours later. After getting creative with a multi tool and some wrenches we managed to free the chain. After bending the derailluer back in line the day was shot and sunset was approaching. We did a very short evening ride to the lake shown in the photo and captured a spectacular sunset.
Turned out to be a great night ride experience that we may not have done had our original plan not been changed. Sometimes things don't go as planned. Just try to remain open to other opportunities and roll with it.
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