Garage Day

Saturday dawned with a steely gray cast to it.....no rain, just heavy overcast....and NO wind....well, let me correct that...there was wind, it was just off shore for a change, like it was Friday....we don't feel the offshore wind at all, but I can look over toward the ranger station and see the Red, White and Blue pointing offshore. When we arrived it was pointing onshore with a vengeance, and we could feel that!

After breakfast I decided this would be a good day to work on our road bikes, and clean a few months of grime from them....mainly from the rear cassette, rear derailleur, chain, front derailleur, and front sprockets. This is called the drivetrain of a bicycle, and like the drivetrain of an automobile, must be maintained, or you aren't going anywhere eventually. This is where my bike stand really comes in handy....it allows me to get the bike off the ground, and allows me to use both hands to work on the bike instead of using one to hold the bike in place. After plugging in my Android phone to my stereo to play music at a volume high enough to be properly appreciated, I dove into cleaning the drivetrains of Elaine's and my road bikes.

Both of our "road" bikes are made by Cannondale, a US company which still manufactures their bike frames in the USA, and many of their own components. I call them road bikes, but they really fall under the "hybrid" category. Neither of us have the racing handlebars like the ones you see on all the bikes in the Tour de France. As I have gotten older my wrists, elbows and shoulders just can't take 70 miles of leaning over that far for hours on end. I replaced those with "riser" handlebars making it possible for us to ride in a somewhat more upright position. In addition I replaced the rigid seatposts with Rock Shox suspension seatposts. Elaine has the F600 which includes a "Headshok" providing about 2.5 inches of suspension travel in front. Mine is the "Bad Boy" which also has the Headshok with 3.5 inches of suspension travel, and also comes with 700c wheels, and Elaine's has 26" wheels. Both of us have disc brakes, and mountain bike gearing. The frames of both bikes are aluminum, and very light. I have set them up specifically taking into consideration our likes and dislikes, and for our maximum comfort. Also, a critical component we both have is the Selle An-Atomica Titanico leather seat......the most comfortable bicycle seat I have ever used. They are expensive at $179 each, but well worth it. I also have them on the tandem. This amazing seat was developed by a good friend of mine, Tom Milton, over many years. He, regrettably, died a couple of years ago suddenly of a heart attack. While he is sorely missed, his company continues on, and is doing well.

Elaine's F600 Hybrid

My "Bad Boy" Hybrid

The Headshok

Soft, waterproof leather with an ergonomic design

While I worked on the bikes Elaine went shopping at the HEB in Corpus Christi. After I finished my work on our road bikes I watche some golf, and then a lot of NCAA basketball. March Madness starts next week!

Thanks for stopping by!