21 Years and Still Going Strong

When I was fourteen I asked for and received a Mtn Bike for Christmas. It was an '88 Diamondback Fleet Streek, check out the sweet handlebars and laid back geometry. I’d forgotten how big those bars were and to think when they bent I actually replaced them with a BMX handlebar. I also added a safety feature by removing the front brake. Didn’t want that thing causing any problems.

My first real ride was early in the spring of 1988, I rode from my house in American Fork to the highest peak on the Point of the Mountain just west of where Suncrest is now. I knew better than giving details of where I was going, my mom surely would have put a stop to that. I simply said, “Going for a bike ride”. Since I had never attempted a ride like that I had no Idea how long it would take. I was having fun and I kept thinking the top was just around the next bend. After multiple false summits I finally reached the large triangular survey marker that sits on the peak. The views were amazing, I could see the Salt Lake and Utah County valleys. It was the first time I experienced the rumble of the city from a mountain peak. I didn’t get home until after dark and my mom was a little freaked out ready to call in a missing persons report.

The bike wasn’t a car but it was close. It provided some of the same freedoms that a car does and allowed me to experience those freedoms a couple of years before any of my friends. Later when I got a car it just meant that I could now drive to the trailheads and spend more time in the good stuff, Hog Hollow, Sliding Rock, Ridge Trail, Moab...!

I could have played Highschool sports like football, basketball, or baseball, oh how about wresteling that sounds fun. All those sports have a season, a very small window of opportunity comes and goes, when it goes you get a job, get old and get fat. You spend the rest of your life like Uncle Rico dreaming of your highschool days when you were the hero. Well, I am still a hero. On a bike for the most part you simply get better with time. Twenty one years later I am still advancing in the sport. I feel strong, another 21+ years should be no problem.

Busted Car

Last night I rode my bike to the auto parts store to pick up a wheel bearing and have a rotor turned. The parts store is close about two miles from my house but it is cold and snowy. As I was leaving the store, I loaded the heavy rotor into my back pack and grabbed a hefty bearing press kit and headed out to my bike to find the front tire had gone flat as I was in the store. The ride home was dicey on the flat carrying approx 30lbs of payload.


There are special hydraulic presses made to push in and out wheel bearings so the small bearing press kit I rented was just wishful thinking. And of course it didn't work. Last night at about 12:00 I decided to give up and get some professional help. So with only a few days till Christmas I decided to take the day off of work to get it done.

Everyone I work with knows I only have one car which my wife drives during the day. I ride to work snow rain or shine. It's only a mile. I can just imagine the conversations of the guys sitting out side smoking after I lock my bike up and go inside. "Maybe he can't afford a car. I'll bet he has too many DUI's and has lost his license. I'll bet he is just retarded"

The truth of the matter is I really enjoy riding my bike and for the 1 mile commute I just can't justify the expense of another car. And if it really bothered me I would finish my 81 rabbit. It's about 5 hours away from being functional again after a major engine rebuild (assuming I put everything together right).

I called in to work to let them know that I would not be coming in so that I could fix our car. A couple of minutes later I got a call from one of the engineers that I work with offering me the use of his cars over the holiday since they were going out of town and wouldn't be using them. I thought it was really nice of him to offer but I am sure that I will have our car up and running before it comes down to that.

I rode my bike across town this morning to a shop with a hydraulic press and now I'm just waiting for them to call so I can go back and pick it up. It is snowing pretty hard.

It is not a big deal is it. Should I feel more compelled to have another car as a backup? Is there something wrong with me? I have to admit I did get a little frustrated last night with the hassle of keeping a higher mileage car running with no backup but it was brief. I think I’m over it now and everything will be great again later tonight when I get it put back together.

I have a good wife who puts up with me and doesn’t complain too terribly much if she doesn’t have a car on occasion.

The snow just covered the internet transmitter/receiver on the roof so I will have to save and post this later.

It could be worse right?

Update
I finished the car and took it around the block for a test drive. The guy at Checker machined my brake rotor completely skiwompus. I hit the brake and the car shook uncontrollably. Seriously I have never seen such a jacked up rotor. I should have known better, when I asked the guy at Checker if they machined rotors he said, “I don’t know. I’ll have to see”. Then after an hour of machining on my rotor the guy comes out and says “Wow that rotor was really warped”. It wasn’t, it only had about 10,000 miles on it and ran perfectly smooth before I took it in. The only reason I was having it turned was because the play in the bad bearing allowed the rotor to flex to the side and slightly rub against the brake caliper housing. In hind sight I should have just left it alone and let the brake pad clean it up.

I explained the problem and they told me I would need to take the rotor off the car and bring it in, (on my bike through the snow) once they verified that the rotor was in fact jacked up they would either re-machine it taking a few thousand miles of wear off or they would refund the $15 bucks I paid them to machine it and sell me a new one.

I left and bought a new rotor at Auto Zone my favorite parts store for 30 bucks, took it home and threw it on, the car now runs smooth as butter.