relationship neglect

'irresponsible bike owner'
'bike abuser'
'jackass'
or
'half ass'

If my bike had a brain, it'ld dump me.
Quick.

Any fleeting moments of free time are spent searching ebay,
looking for random parts to piece together ANOTHER bike,
searching craigslist for a deal, or thumbing through a stack
of magazines - all filled with the 'newest' & 'greatest'.
Dreams of 'the next build'.

When I do the mental balancing of my money,
and realise there is no money,
it's time to be somewhere ten minutes ago,
so I grab my bike, throw a leg over, and one block later-
FLAT.
Oh, and it's raining.
and my brakes are squealling like a mad pig.
That's what I get when I shove the other wheelset in -
why?
because the last ride out into the 'country'
udder-ly destroyed the road wheels-
since the roads were like cobbles and fireroads
with all the road work going on.




At that point,
torn apart on the side of a country road
I realised how crappy of a bike owner I truely am.
I'm actually bad at alot of things:
mailing birthday presents (sitting next to me since March)
posting photos (maybe back in March?)
posting here (last Friday?)

So it's no surprise:
my derailuer looks like it was molded out of mud,
my wheel's weird 'hop' has returned,
I'm out of clean socks,
oh,
and since I switched wheels - did I switch spare tubes?
NOPE!
SUCK!



So I did a quick adjust of the brakes,
which left no tension,
which I didn't bother to reset until
I went to ride to work the next day.

But the brake pad drag up the hills
left me questioning everything.

Are my crankarms too short?
Why do I have such a crappy spin?
Is that really brake drag?
How do you loose weight quick?
Is my seat height too low?
What's that pain in my chest?

That's what hills do to me.


side note- this is where I meet up with your mom.
don't tell your dad!



Bringing a camera on your ride allows you to stop,
take a nice long break,
and not look like a winded Fred that can't climb.
Thanks Mr. Farmer,
proper barn placement - at the crest of a hill.

I still hate riding in the country.