Tonight was Crankmob, the monthly Westside cycling Bacchanal. (No pics, because I left my camera swinging around my neck all night instead of actually taking it out and using it. D'oh!)
Before I get started, if you're planning on going to Crankmob, please have the following:
1. A bike that has been tuned up recently, or at least ridden regularly. Grabbing something with 2 wheels, pumping up the tires, and hoping for the best, is not a strategy for fun, and getting stranded 5-10 miles from your house or car is kind of a drag.
2. A wrench to get your wheels off if you get a flat.
3. Levers to get your tire off your wheel if you get a flat, and back on again.
4. A patch kit to repair your tube when you get a flat.
5. 2 replacement tubes for when your tube turns out to be unpatchable (and an extra for when you destroy your first spare tube).
6. A pump to inflate your tire once it's repaired.
Aside from the bike, these items are CHEAP, and can save you (and probably me, but we'll get to that shortly) substantial amounts of time. (Everybody on crankmob has $ for smart phones and alcohol, but somehow $25 worth of repair kit is extravagant.)
It was enormous, probably 600+ people showed up. We started at Venice Skate Park, and rode down Lincoln to Marina Del Rey, then took the Ballona Creek path out to Mustache Bridge and down to the Dockweiler Beach parking lot.
Here, we were supposed to have Bike Jousting. Richie went all out for this one, towing a bike trailer with kiddie bikes and jousting lances on it, and even getting ZAP from American Gladiators to host it. Seriously. She is one fit lady. (Click the link).
Unfortunately, law enforcement arrived before the jousting got going, and we were dispersed.
So, back up the beach, back across Mustache Bridge, down Lincoln, East on Jefferson, to the Home Depot with its enormous parking lot.
As I arrived, somebody asked if I had a pump, which I did, so I stopped to help. Unfortunately, the tube was destroyed, so I sold him one of my spares. (I know it's good bike karma to give stuff away, but I tend to go through a lot of tubes/patches since other people need them, so I take enough $ to replace them for the next person.) While he was replacing that, another guy rolled up on a flat tire. I sold him a patch kit, and while he fixed his flat, I took a look at his wheel, to see if there was something that could have caused it. There was.
About 10 spokes had been replaced, but replaced with longer spokes, so the ends of the spokes were poking through the spoke nipples. (If you replace spokes, make sure to take the tire/tube/rim tape off, and make sure the replacement spokes do not reach the end of the spoke nipple.) So, while he patched the tube, I went around and loosened 10 or so spokes to move the ends out of harm's way.
Meanwhile, a third guy rides up and asks if he can borrow some pliers. I asked what he wanted them for, and he said to take his wheel off. I said you probably want a wrench, and loaned him one. He said "Thanks, I'll bring it right back" and rode back to his friends down the block.
Meanwhile, the crowd has again been dispersed by the police, and we're left standing on the sidewalk as they rode off to the Costco parking lot.
Then, both guys got their tires on uneventfully, but unfortunately, both then ripped the valves off the tubes as they were pumping them up. (Be gentle with Presta valves and hand pumps. Flats are frustrating enough Two more inner tubes later, and both bikes were ready to g0, and luckily, the rider of the bike with the 10 loose spokes was pretty light, so his wheel stayed remarkably true.
Meanwhile, the guy I'd loaned my wrench to had vanished with his friends.
So we rode off. After one dead-end detour, I cut left on Centinela, and heard a guy call out from the corner gas station. "Hey, you got a tube?" I said "Yes" and looked over and he said "Oh, dude, I've got your pliers, I totally forgot." He got a used tube, I got my wrench back, and we all rolled on from there, me to my home, them to In and Out and their homes.
So, that was my Crankmob. Not exactly the thrills and excitement I usually look forward to, but I got some exercise, got to meet some new folks, and I also got my bike dialled in a little bit better.
When you're an amateur bike mechanic, and a not very small amateur bike mechanic, getting a bike set up for proper comfort and efficiency takes a bit of doing.
Buying a bike from bikesdirect.com is extremely cost efficient, and building a bike from the frame up is a great learning experience (if not a cheap one), but one thing your LBS offers, especially if you pay the extra money to get properly fitted, is a bike that fits.
When you don't get your bike fitted at the bike shop to begin with, there are lots of variables in play. (Many of these are irrelevant if you're fit and normal sized, but if you're neither, they become apparent pretty readily.)
Your seat needs to be at a proper height, angle, and setback over the pedals (your seat needs to be high enough that your legs extend enough for a good pedal stroke, but not so high that your hips rock(Thanks Dmitry!), your handlebars need to be at the proper angle and at a proper height and reach with respect to your saddle position and arm length. On top of all of this, you need the right saddle and handlebars to begin with. So, having swapped my riser bars for a pair of swept back handlebars, and having found my third saddle (a Specialized Sonoma Sport, I HIGHLY recommend this saddle), and having dropped the seatpost and set back the saddle and angled the bars down slightly, I think I've actually gotten a comfortable fit for the bike.
Now I just need to ride it more.
And to buy some more tubes and patch kits and tire levers for the next group ride.
And you probably do too.
Have a good one.
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