The river was angry and swollen

Another day biking to work. I ditched the Riverwalk this time in favor of a lesser used street.

The way in was otherwise routine but during lunch my bike showed further evidence of falling apart. The cover came off one of my tail lights and I ended up losing one of the AAA batteries (I need to secure them with a rubber band or something). On the way home my left Grip Shift somehow separated so that I only had the lowest gear up front.

It was amusing to think that I was down to one derailleur, and one brake. I had a skinnier wheel in the back from my mountain bike and the brake was too loose to grip it. Why the wheel swap? I just got the spoke repaired on the original one---$20 right there. Me and my redundant systems. If it got dark I would be relying on just a single tail light too.

The general feeling I got was of substandard readiness, if not pending collapse. I swapped the rear rack with the one on my other mountain bike, but even that doesn't seem heavy duty enough for the 30 pounds of lead-acid batteries. The newest thing on the bike is the seat, and it's not really all that comfortable. I'd like to redo everything so it is all aviation grade.

The river on the way home was brown and swollen from all the recent rain. It seemed kind of cranky.

Late summer bikin'

It's hard to believe fall is just around the corner. It is so green down by the river. The green of Ireland or Hawaii. That's how green it is.

It's still been getting hot as heck lately, 98'F today. My patio plants are holding on though. I harvested some aquaponic herbs and a couple of little ornamental peppers lately. My remaining poblanos are looking good, but they'd be happier in bigger pots.

I have been biking more and even pedaled to a tennis tournament. After playing two hard matches it was quite a slog riding it back home. Fortunately I found two new pedestrian bridges near the university that cut out two busy street crossings. Still, the ol' e-bike has not been performing too well. I must have forgot to charge it because the low battery light was on when I left and it was completely dead on the way back.

I found part of the problem today: a broken spoke. This put the wheel out of true and made it rub against the breaks. These cheap bikes are high maintenance. I also had a staple in the tire, giving it a slow leak, which is the only reason I was even looking at it. I am also trying to bolster the lame rack in the back, but there is still a wobble.

Bike shop bitchin'

Can I find at least one decent bike shop in this godforsaken dump of a town? I am still counting the ways the last one (rhymes with "about broken") dicked me over. I ordered a partial overhaul (including new cassette) and and they chipped a piece out of my GripShift. Also, the front brakes were so loose they did not stop at all. I had to get the guy to redo 'em. The bill was over $100. Then I went to another shop to replace the front chainring. They did a good job but after I got home it lost its ability to shift into the top ring. I had to tighten it up myself with my meager collection of multitools, kinking and fraying the wire.

I can never go into a store and just relax and look at all the stuff. The help are always asking a bunch of questions or ogling you like you've got sticky fingers. Dude. I don't know what I want. I just want to look to see what I might need. I might want to admire the bikes, see the next best things down the line. Respect my need for space!

Unfortunately I need bike shops in my life as the bike mechanix can get complicated. I avoid them though. At least there is one halfway decent one around there. Buying on eBay is odd too; they probably have their friends bidding stuff up and maybe it's junk to begin with. If I get it on the Bay, it better be a steal. Wait, maybe it is stolen. Online retailers like BikeParts.com have been pretty good, but pricey. There is no one perfect solution.