Wrenching Away

Time to stepup my wrenching skills. I'm pretty good but I want to become great. There's a local shop called Bicycle Habitat that has really good maintenance classes. On the first Monday of every month they offer a wheel building class. It costs $50 (plus the cost of a rim, spokes and hubs). I'm going to start with this class so I can learn how to deconstruct/true a wheel.

My goal is to be able to build up my own bike from scratch one day. Then all I need is a place to put it.

The Rub

I finished cleaning my bike today, put on the back wheel and started to turn my cranks to lube the chain. I heard this intermittent humming sound. Like the wheel was wobbly or dragging/rubbing on something. I checked all over but couldn't find anything. I then remember back to when I was riding and would hear a glitch in my freewheel clicks -- almost the same type of rhythm. I decided to bring my bike down to the local shop. I was pumped to see my boy Noah working back at this location. He was the guy who sold me my first bike -- a hybrid. We hit it off immediately but he got transferred to a different shop for a year and a half. He was shocked to hear how into cycling I have gotten. As I was waiting for him to finish with another customer I realized what was happening. My wheel was out of alignment and rubbing against the chainstay where it connects back into the seattube. CRAZY. It was because the hubs were loose and the wheel needed to be dished back -- Noah had the mechanic fix it for me. Now it's like butter. I can't help but think this was part of the reason I was struggling in the beginning. I'm going to be like a rocket ship now. I'm trying to get Noah back out on the road (he's been getting into paintball lately). As I was leaving I heard one of his coworkers say "you're going to ride now?". He responded "yeah, for Jeff, I'll get out on the bike". Noah and I will always have a special bond because he sold me my first bike.

The Bully

I'm BAAA-aaack...

Did a 55 mile ride today with our training group and I feel like a billion bucks. Waking up early to do laps in the park twice a week has paid dividends. I no longer feel embarassed and my legs are truly back. Cycling is fun again. I love this sport.

In fact, I'm so reenergized, tonight I'm ordering Chinese food, renting a movie and cleaning my bike from head to toe. I just took off the back cassette and have it sitting in simple green solution (this is the macdaddy of degreasers). My bike will never be as clean as Hoppy's though.

The Best Jerry, THE BEST...

When I tell people in NYC I own land in Idaho they look puzzled..."Idaho? Why Idaho?" they ask. Why? because it's the best Jerry, THE BEST:

Shedding Weight...

I wish it was off my body, but it's not. I'm losing weight the old fashioned way. I'm paying for it, but frugally I might add. While I loved the experience, carrying all my gear touring made me appreciate the minimalist existence of road riding. To that end, I picked up an incredibly small Scott mini-tool in Italy, which I can't find anywhere around here or on the net.

And I just purchased this pump for my rides:










Topeak Micro Rocket AL
Head – Presta Valve
Barrel – CNC Aluminum
Handle – CNC Aluminum
Capacity – 160 psi / 11 bar
Single action
Side Mount Bracket
Size – 6.25 x 0.75 in.
Weight – 65g

It's really more about the size than the weight. I can only imagine how many flats I'm going to get this year now that I have bought this pump.

I have a serious motivational challenge for Thursday. I want to get up at 5:30AM and get 4 laps or 25 miles done in the park before work. Not sure what's going to be more difficult to overcome, the early wakeup or the cold? "KEEP SPINNING" will be spinning through my brain the whole time for sure.

Ride on.

-The Bully

Oh YEAH!

Man did I miss cycling. But now it's back. Did my first outdoor ride on Saturday in 40 degree weather with 40 miles in the books. This is why I love the training group I do -- there's no way I would have motivated to go out alone on Saturday.

Conditioning was definitely an issue. I need to get it back. I put on a near embarassing showing for a "leader" as I got dropped by my group and as another group approached heard the leader yell out to me "keep spinning" as I flailed away. I wanted to yell out "I'm a leader A*SHOLE" but was a bit of a catch-22. To be fair, some of my bad performance was nutrition related. Once I ate lunch I was much better/got stronger on 2nd half of the ride. Nevertheless, I will be doing some trainer rides this week in preparation for then next ride on Saturday (50 miles).

Everything's Bigger In Idaho

Just got back from the 'ho. What a great trip. My buddy firSSt and his wife were gracious hosts as usual and showed me a top notch time. I love it out there. It's God's country and there are no NYers (except for me) to spoil things. I really got into skiing courtesy of firSSt showing me the ropes. In addition to skiing, we also did some great snowmobiling and ate dinner at a yurt on the shore of Payette Lake that is only accessible by a 1 mile walk with snowshoes or cross-country skis.

I may be back in NYC but I left my soul in Idaho.