Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Bo-Bo Bikes!


This is what my quiver of bikes looks like, these days. Despite Wrecking Ball's hard fought campaign to convince the world that I am some kind of competent mechanic, this is the state of my world. The first race of the GA State Championship Series is this weekend, and my primary mountain bike is jacked. The front brake caliper has developed an ungodly love affair for the rotor, and won't let it go. EEEEEEeeeeeeeeiiiiiiieeeeeeeeiiiiieeee, is the beautiful music my bike makes as I twist and turn through the woods, seeking the largest tree, at the bottom of the longest, steepest downhill, into which I may pilot man and machine into with all the forceful destruction of Tony Stark's Jericho missile system. The rear wheel is popping spokes like popcorn on movie night. 

The Rig has derigged itself for the second time. The seat tube cracked again, and now sings the creak, Creak, CREEAAAKKK, cruuk, creeeeek tune, as you watch the smiley face shape around the seat tube get larger. It's like the damn thing is mocking me.

My singlespeed has a taller gear on it, set up for Munson. I'd try to apply Rule #5 here, and suck it up. Unfortunately, turning the big gear in the hills outside of Munson does more than make me real tired. It completely takes out my sketchy ankle for days at a time. Not worth it to me.

I'm in mid-pedal system exchange, and most of the remainder of my bikes have pedals incompatible with all of my current shoe/cleat combos.

Blah, blah, blah. Whine, whine, whine. Oh woe is me, right? If all I have to worry about is that my 47 bikes are inconvenient to ride today, I think I'll be alright.

I'm not sure how Bigworm, veteran wrench, has let this cancer of deferred maintenance into the camp, but I suspect a certain Robot Army General may have been scrounging around for robot repair parts, or at the very least, causing a little mechanical mischief.

No racing for me this weekend. I'm too uptight to go race on a bobo bike. Besides, it looks like I'll need the time and money to repair this fleet. If I can just find a robot graveyard...

4 comments:

Kent said...

Rule #5

Fat Lad said...

As a qualified spanner monkey I now spend most of my spare time wrenching on other peoples in the club bikes. You should see the sorry arse state my drive train is in...

RickySilk said...

Throw my front hayes 9 on there. It's not pretty but it works good.

Juancho said...

The cobbler's son wears no shoes.

The RA is everywhere.