Mine appears to be October and November.
Sure, I could have built up a knobby-tired blog and participated in the increasingly popular sport of blogocross, but then I'd need to invest in a second pit blog and a bunch of spare keyboards for muddy blog posts, dry-conditions blog posts, etc. Plus, it's hard to think of something to write with all those people ringing cowbells in your ears and handing you beers after every paragraph.
So, I napped out November, completely neglecting to immortalize my 40th (eh, what's that, sonny?) birthday on the 8th, which came and went with the "meh" it deserved. My inability/unwillingness to compulsively log miles this year prevents me from knowing if I reached my '40,000 lifetime miles by 40" goal (if I had to guess, I'd say "not even close"). But hey, it's all good.
The main reason I shut down in November is that this is the time of year I start to bore myself, never mind my reader(s). Other than my thrill-free commute and hamster-wheel torture in the garage, I really haven't been riding. Equipment-wise, this is the time of year I start to get whiny and unsatisfied with the stuff that was perfectly fine last month, and who wants to read about that?
I do have a bit of a mechanical challenge in the queue, however -- a problematic clunk in the bottom bracket area of my Raleigh Clubman. I've whittled down the variables (with thanks to some even more mechanically minded pals) to the bottom bracket itself, and have a replacement en route. Once that arrives, I'll do a how-to on newfangled Shimano external BB installation for my retro-grouchy readership. Plus, if I can find a cheap source for the (relatively common) cartridge bearings in said bottom brackets, I'll try to resurrect the old one with punches and hammers and brute force.
Thanks again for your patience. Your next bill will be pro-rated to reflect the interruption in service.
3 comments:
Nice to hear that there was some resolution to the issue! Is the bike old enough to need a new BB?? Seems like they ought to be good for at least 10k miles, but if the original was a low end one chosen to save a few pennies, it might be so.
Speaking of new fangled BB's, I've been meaning to pull the BB out of my go-fast 'bent and check the bearings. I've even bought the FSA tool for pushing the cartridges in and out of the cups, so things might be interesting. I wonder how much trouble I can get into??
Steve in Peoria
Steve,
The BB was a Tiagra... perhaps not the finest of the finest. And I did land on the drive-side crank when I got hit by bike ninjas, so maybe that damaged it. Found an Ultegra for all of $25, so we'll see how that does.
Trolling the web, it doesn't seem like bearing replacement in these things is rocket science. Just need to get the old ones out without damaging the cups and the new ones pressed in straight without damaging the cartridges. If you take that plunge first on your FSA, I'd be curious to see how it goes.
Happy (belated) Birthday, Jason! Man, we are getting old.
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