Karma and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance

I have taught myself much of what I know about bike maintenance, but most of what I know I have learned from friends. More than how to press a headset or adjust a derailleur, I have learned from my friends’ example to try and to have confidence that I can figure it out somehow. I think about Brendan teaching me to fix a flat (he used a butter knife as a tire lever;) I think about fooling around at Wright Brothers, taking my drivetrain apart to clean grime from wet streets and muddy trails, bugging Scott every few minutes to show me how to use a chain whip, break a chain, etc; I think about stripping my neglected Stumpjumper down to the frame to make it rideable with David’s patient instruction; I think about calling Jesse for help with recent bike building projects.
On the second day of the sand storm, we dragged Chip’s Iraqi clunker into my CHU to fix the shifting. He has cheerfully followed me out to ride zig-zags around and about the flight line, week by week increasing speed and distance; starting with leisurely spins and evolving into workouts. I can tell he has the bug. It has been fun having a companion and riding partner, but it has been more fun to see him grow into a cyclist. He has been plagued with missed shifts and grinding from dragging derailleurs, but I realized a couple of weeks ago that his shifters were disintegrating, and he had to manually hold tension to stay in his lower of four functioning gears. Thanks to online retail and APO delivery, I ordered some cheap 7 speed grip shifters and they arrived just ahead of the sand storm (they usually ground supply flights for a few days.) I tried to remember my teachers, and how they empowered me to tackle bike mechanics one task at a time.
I started Chip stripping the old shifters,grips, and cables from the bike and went to work brushing the caked desert dust from the cogs, chain, and chainrings. I blew out the housings with compressed air from a can and dripped gun oil in the housing because we would have to reuse it. Chip got the new shifters and grips on and re-tightened the brake levers, and then became a human bike stand while we worked together to adjust the crummy derailleurs until he had 21 gears. At some point while we worked, I took a break and switched the ipod to play the Allman brothers and felt like I was back at Wright Brothers with Scott.
I am really excited about the Revolution bike co-op project. I have felt more connected with my friends and my home pursuing my small project of helping create a logo. The best part, however is seeing the collaboration and energy flowing into the project. I really love that one of the first public acts will be the bike maintenance class Scott and Reese are teaching. I think this is such a great way to start, and my experience introducing Chip to the fulfillment and confidence that comes from learning how to work on your own bike, and revisiting memories of learning experiences with my friends has helped me appreciate what comes from teaching a friend about something you love.
The dust blew away overnight, and we went for a ride under steely skies today. It was much more pleasant than racing the arrival of the sand storm two days ago. Chip couldn’t talk about how great it was to be able to choose an appropriate gear and stay in it. It felt good, but it also felt good to finish the other day against the wind and blowing sand with a grinning high five. Some days are better than others, but any day on a bike is a good day. Even if you are just wrenching on the bike.
Thank you friends.