Imachynna Syndrome and the Importance of Proper Bicycle Maintenance.

So, I was sitting at my computer Sat. AM, thinking about a blog post for Friday's SMCM, and feeling kinda ranty because I'd missed a chunk of the ride helping people fix stuff on their bikes. (Thanks David F. for helping me find the group again). As I was about to start ranting about why people choose to go on rides without bringing a well-maintained bike and the proper gear, I heard a noise that sounded like PHUT! HSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! coming from my bike. I looked over, and my front tube had popped, which, since it was a slime tube, meant that part of my carpet was now covered in lovely green goo.

Apparently, the tiny tear in my sidewall had allowed the tube to weaken and rupture, so before I could start talking smack about other people's poor maintenance habits, it was time for a trip to the bike store for a new slime tube and a new front tire so I could do some maintenance of my own. Funny how life keeps you humble that way.

But Sat. P.M. it was time for the Imachynna Syndrome ride, hosted by Chynna, aka Imachynna, aka The Tiny Giant. She did an awesome job. (Posting your phone number on the ride announcement is a great idea for anyone leading rides, as it makes it a lot easier to catch up.)



(Her pictures of this ride will be much better.)

We met at Chinatown Station and headed North.





This ride also seemed fairly maintenance heavy, with tons and tons of flat tires and other issues for some reason. I got to try out my new spoke wrench when a woman busted a spoke and her wheel went way out of true. I thought she was going to be done for the night until somebody reminded me that you can true the wheel around the missing spoke and make a bike reasonably rideable, which we did.

The real hero of the night in terms of keeping people on the road was definitely Eddieboy. At the start, he helped Drooby take off some derailleurs and turn his bike into a functional singlespeed. Then at another stop, he helped this poor confused fellow who wasn't even with a ride that had gone off a curb on an ancient road bike and bent the rear wheel so badly it couldn't be ridden. Eddie took off the rear wheel, walked it over to a fence, bent it back into shape between the bars of the fence, put it back on the bike, and the guy was on his way. It was awesome, although a few of the riders that I'd never seen before got a little cranky about having to wait. Dumbasses.



Then we wandered on toward Chynna's place, where she took out a huge light and began taking pictures of everybody, some of which should be absolutely awesome. (If my shots come out, I'll have some very artistic "before" pictures to show everyone in 6-12 months if I can stick to my New Year's resolution.)

After that, it was down through Silverlake, up into Echo Park, and back to Chinatown. The group had a destination in mind, but since we were back at the starting point and it was after 2AM, I decided to call it a night.

Hopefully there will be an Imachynna Syndrome 2: The Antidote ride at some point in the near future, as this was tremendous fun!