I've not been on a bike in over four weeks, for many reasons. The main reason being that my main road bike (aka Black Bike) has been out of commission. A few months ago, it decided to start shifting by itself, which got really annoying, especially when I was climbing up a big hill. I changed the chain and cables, but that didn't help. Then I cleaned everything up real good, and that didn't make much of a difference, either. This problem still existed for my cycling trip to Colorado (a blog about which is still in progress), but I was able to get by.
After a bit of research, I determined that the shifter needed to be rebuilt:
See the two tabs on part #9? One of them had broken off.While I had it apart, I wanted to replace a bunch of other bits and pieces, and took my parts list to my favorite local bike shop, Hammerhead Bikes and they put in the order. They could only find about half of the parts, so I ordered the rest from my favorite on-line bike shop, Branford Bike. After I got the shifter apart, I realized that I needed to order another part, so I rode the steel road bike in the meantime, but that didn't go so well.
I rode my mountainbike on the road a couple of times, but I'm having an issue of air not staying in the back tire, and haven't really felt like dealing with that. It's been too wet here to ride off-road, anyhows (that's not a complaint, we've really needed the rain!).
So, what's the point in all of this? Give me a minute....
Oh, yeah! I rode the Black Bike tonight! I finally got it cleaned up and put back together late last week, but didn't ride over the weekend because of rain. I did a few last-minute tune up things (can't have the brakes sticking, now), patched a spare tube, and headed out.
The battery in my GPS had lost its charge, which was probably a good thing, since I really didn't want to know how slowly I was riding. The ride felt good, though. I just did a 20 mile out and back along Parmer Lane, near my house. I did catch one guy on the way out, at a stop light, but luckily I was turning, whereas he was going straight, so I didn't have to worry about keeping up with him. It's that cyclists' ego thing, y'know.
On the way home, however, as I was lazily climbing a hill, I noticed the shadow of another rider who had just caught up with me, and was riding on my rear wheel, letting me cut the wind for him. Being the nice guy I am, I started pointing out obstacles, such as gravel for him. At the top of the hill, he rode on past me.
No problem, people pass me all the time, and I pass other people. That's the thing about cycling, you'll always find people who are faster than you, and people who are slower. But this guy didn't bother to say anything. How much energy does it take to say a simple, "Hi, " or "Howya doin'"? I always do it. That's a pet peeve of mine.
I would normally have just let the guy go, but I now had a mission. I caught him at the bottom of the hill, and rode on his wheel up the next hill and down, coasting so I could get a little rest break. When the road leveled out, I went on around him and dropped him like a the last leaf on a New Hampshire sugar maple in November. I never looked back, but I could see his shadow fall back, and I kept riding hard until I was sure that he was gone. I finally backed off a little bit, until I saw his shadow reappear, then I hit it hard again. His shadow again faded away.
He caught me at the next red light, and still didn't say anything. When the light changed, I let him go ahead, as I was taking the next right, anyhows. I was pretty tired, too, but shhhhhhh!
I rode to Chipotle for a burrito, then home, where I saw that they were mentioned on tonight's episode of South Park.
