Something Wonderful...

Yeah yeah it's an Arthur C. Clark rip off and I don't care. I'm in a good mood right now (seems to be a rare thing these days) and it seems to be mostly due to Lauren and my bike. I'm in the middle of putting my fixed gear back together after I trashed the bottom bracket and had to replace it as well as the crank. As you all know I'm poor, the joys of being a student and not living with my parents. So it has taken me about two months to spend $100 to replace them, 20 for the bottom bracket and 80 for the crank. All is better now, I need crank arm bolts but there was a kid in a local shop up here that said he had a set he wasn't using and offered them to me. So I'm picking them up tomorrow and I'll have my fixed gear back.

I LOVE riding my road bike but riding fixed really is something else, I just enjoy it so much, no gears, no cables; just me, my legs, the bike and the road... Wow that sounded like chezze to the max but it's true I miss the feeling of always pedaling and not having to use my hands to slow down, I'd just pop a quick skip or skid and scrub off some speed then keep going. Track stands at lights is also really nice, no having to un-clip and clip back in, just standing there waiting for the light.

In the land of Lauren we have her new (to her) Ross that my dad found on the Shit Lick Craigslist. He sent it up here with some extra parts and all it's missing is pedals, seat post, cables and a new chain... Maybe, I forgot that the chain I had on my fixed gear prior to it being a fixed gear was brand new and may not need to be replaced. Oh and brake levers, tires and tubes but other then that it's good to go and will be a good bike for her. Thanks dad, she's really excited about it and can't wait to ride it. The really exciting part for me is I'm not going to put it together, she is. I'm just going to watch and help when she needs it. I love watching people learn about their bikes and the best way to do that is to get your hands dirty. Another plus side to that is it will help her build some confidence in herself and her ability to learn a new skill. I'm really excited about her. Plus when you build your own bike you really learn to love it and it means that much more to you. I'll post some pictures as we put it together and tell you all about it later.