Monday, January 01, 2007

A New Year

As I sit at my desk, evaluating the last year and taking droppersful of Kick Ass Immune Activator from Wish Garden, wishing that I could go for a short ride or something, these are the thoughts I have.

1. I love riding fixed. Stella has seen so much use that I need to overhaul the bottom bracket and rebuild a hub and headset so I've been riding the Panasonic lately, which I also love, but I miss fixed gear.

2. I love working on bikes. Not enough to try to make my living at it, but it is what I think about enough. I also like seeing other people take up riding, at whatever level they can.

3. Bikes are not inanimate. They respond to love and use. Just as our human bodies were built to be exerted, bikes need that, too. The Peugeot Mixte that I've been tuning up for Rebecca needs to be ridden. It has some bad mojo for a derailleur I tried to install. After I got that set up properly, with much assistance from Mis Chief, I took it home and then took it for a short test ride. I stopped at the end of the block and it felt like the brake cable wasn't tight enough and had slipped from the cable hanger.
No, it was much worse. The brake shoe had broken off the shaft.

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