Big Bikes

Too Much Riding Not Enough Writing

You're just going to have to keep reading to find out the answer to burning questions like "Why does Rooter have bucket on his head?". I'm sorry.

Last week was a long one. I'd upped my on-bike hours to the longest yet this year. Shot for 18, ended up with 17. My life doesn't really allow for more than that. Not sure that I need more than that either. I primarily race twoish hour events. The benefits of riding 6+ hours per week are lost on me. Mark Weir is faster than I could ever hope to be, and he thinks a 16 hour week is long.
I also worked a lot, sure some of my work involved stuff like this but it still made for long days.

Sleep didn't happen, I predicted a breakdown at work today if I couldn't muster a little Stage 4 sleep. Ten hours in "The Booth" (Hey Adrian, want your old job back?) writing up repairs and dealing with the public. Here, have a taste:

Man walks in dragging (yes dragging, always a bad sign. The guys at the ER probably cringe when someone drags another person in) a Magna mountain bike.
"I would like some air and some grease...and whatever else it needs".
I take a look.
"Yup, it needs a Bronze Tune and a front axle nut, that's $65 plus about a buck for the nut".
Sixty Five bucks? But I only paid one hundred dollars for it on Craigslist, that's ridiculous!".
I bite my tongue because it wants to tell him what is truly ridiculous in this situation.
"OK just check it over and make it safe and give it some air and some grease".
"I'm sorry sir, but the bike needs a lot of work to make it even roll. Unfortunately it is my honest opinion that the bike is unsafe to ride in its current state".
I air up the tires and hold a bottle of Finish Line in close proximity to the black, grease-caked chain while pantomiming the application of lube. I drop the bike off the stand and hand it back to him.
He and his wife walk away, staring at the bike bemusedly wondering why the air and "grease" did not remedy the wobbling wheels, the front brake lever which pulls straight to the bar, the front brake housing that was wrapped around the head tube, the rattling saddle, the fact that while riding this bike it would seem perfectly reasonable to wear a 5 Gallon bucket for a helmet.

It is strange that I don't tell more angsty bike-mechanic stories. I have a lot.

Speaking of not enough time...wait, were we even talking about time? I don't know, but now I'm going to talk about not having enough of it because I do not have enough time to write here, never mind the other places I sometimes try to write. Therefore I wrote a 29er Crew specific post about getting my Bontrager Xr1s mounted up Tubeless over there. It is so exciting. Not exciting enough for exclamation points, but what is!