Assets Friday

[topaz]

Today on my way home, downshifting as I crossed Alewife Brook Parkway into Arlington, my bike chain up and broke.  One of the links just came apart and the whole mess fell in the street.

I decided to assume that this is the universe's way of getting all of this crap over and done with before Outriders, so I don't have to deal with it in the middle of a 120-mile bike ride.  Maybe also reminding me to be grateful that it's not turning out that way.

Anyway, there wasn't much for it but to remove the broken link and reattach the ends of the chain.  Fixing a bike chain isn't really that hard---you just need a gizmo called a chain tool---but reassembling the chain onto the bike can be tricky business.  The links of the chain have to be held in line while they're being riveted back together, all while the tension in the rear derailleur is doing its best to pull them back apart.  If you're careful, when taking the chain apart, you can push the rivet just barely far enough out that the end of it will hold the chain together while you're putting it back on.  It requires fraction-of-an-inch precision, patience, and a little practice.

Thankfully, chain maintenance is one of the things I do have a lot of practice in.  It took about twenty minutes but I was able to ride the rest of the way home.

It's a reminder of just how much I have learned from riding and (trying to) maintain and repair my own bike.  How much I value being self-sufficient, being able to get myself around under my own power, and knowing how to fix it if it gets broken.

Those are some of my most treasured assets.  Happy Assets Friday, everybody.

Comments

[dancingwolfgrrl.livejournal.com]

Bike grease = sexy.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Oh, yay! I got teh sexy!

[ceo]

Yay mad bike fixing skills! I've done that repair in the field once or twice meself. (Started fixing my own bike at age 12 or so, thanks to Everybody's Bike Book)

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

I loved Everybody's Bike Book! When I was a teenager I didn't have the self-confidence to actually try any of the maintenance they described, but I was very encouraged by the idea that I could learn stuff like that.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

OH yeah. Tricky bike maintenance is totally hot. Woo!

[agaran.livejournal.com]

Definitely important assets to those in our line of work. :) Another asset is that knowledge and skill in doing the repairs.

[rintrahroars.livejournal.com]

Definitely an asset! And, girls and boys know that a man who knows how to use his hands and isn't afraid of getting a little dirty is a GOOD man to know. *grin*

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

mmmmmmm, messy hands. *nod*

[ceo]

It just occurred to me, don't you now have chain grease all over your camera?

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

My phone, yeah -- I held it very gingerly and I did get a bunch of grease smudges on it. Not too bad, though, and I expect my phone to take a certain amount of abuse like that. :-)

[pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com]

I've had my (very long (http://www.tachyonlabs.com/mybike.html)) chain come right off the crankset a couple times (though not recently) when I hit a bump. Guiding it back on again definitely does mark up my fingers a bit.

[dbang.livejournal.com]

pssst...your assets are dirty