Projects

 The recent cold weather gave me time to focus on some little bike projects that I had been putting off.  Top of my list was getting my speedometer/odometer off of the old Fuji and onto Chuck.  This project took several phases starting last week.  First I detached it from the Fuji which was the only "easy" part of the whole thing.  As soon as I got it off I decided to try and turn it's miles back to zero.  I rigged up our little (weak) cordless drill (which I sometimes think would actually work better as a hammer, it's so useless) via some duct tape to the odometer and pulled the trigger.  Well the poor little drill sounded like it was gonna blow up and after a couple minutes only one mile had ticked off!  Scratch that idea!

Next I pulled Chuck over and began to size up the best place to put the little gadget.  And then I realized that the Fuji has drastically different sized forks than Chuck does.  Chuck's forks are at least 2x bigger around.  So off I ran to Lowe's to see if I could find a clamp I could substitute.  Fast forward 2 days, and I am again trying to figure out how to get the thing attached to Chuck.  No dice.  The clamp fits perfectly, but there is no way to attach the gadget to the clamp.  Enter zip ties.  Basically, zip ties are cousins of duct tape--they can handle just about anything.  Not this.  The zip ties do not fit through the clamp.  Finally, I see the light and give up.  I know that Becca's bike is nearly identical to the Fuji so I undo all the fidgeting I'd done to the poor little odometer and pop it on her bike--less than 3 minutes.  Awesome.  Why didn't I just do that in the first place?  Well, cuz I wanted the odometer.  Somewhere down the road, I'll have to pick up a cheap cycling computer, I guess.  That's actually why I liked the odometer--it was not a computer.  It was just a simple little old school gadget that did a few basic jobs really well.  Damn you technology!

Anyway after that whole debacle I was not so much interested in any other "projects" but I refused to go on another ride without my water bottle riding front and center.  So I took about 5 minutes and moved the upright water bottle holder onto Chuck's handlebars.  I like my bottle in this position right now because I don't have to lean over and try to nab the thing while keeping one eye on the road. 

What I learned from my little dabbling is that I am not so much mechanically inclined.  I mean, I am ok at doing things, but I get impatient and don't think things the whole way through before diving in over my head.  And then I get frustrated and irritated because instead of taking 3.5 minutes my projects turn into week long marathon irritation and frustration events.  At least I learned from the odometer incident (never to be mentioned again) and the bottle cage move went off without any issues.  And having the odometer and the bottle cage make a big difference on our rides.  It's much more satisfying to get back and say "Oh we did 6 miles" than "well that seemed good."