Thursday, March 22, 2018

Bicycle Repairman


When I got the call from my buddy the other day, in addition to talking about perhaps taking a bicycle tour this summer, he wanted to know if I would be interested in welding up a part for the bike shop where I just had my bike overhauled. That's the bike above - expensive piece of gear. Aluminum frame with carbon fiber seat post and fork and top notch components. The bracket that the front derailleur bolts onto was broken. It's a small part, thin, and brazed onto the frame. I was a little concerned about getting it too hot when I TIG welded the break and loosening up the brazed joint. That along with not wanting to scratch or mar anything else. It was hard enough finding a spot to attach the ground clamp. Anyway, I got it done, looks good with minimum damage to the paint, and I swapped my labor for a pair of fenders for the motorbike.

I started back teaching this week. Looks like a pretty good class. I've had most of them in class before one time or another. Should be fun. It's only eight weeks and it'll pay for a trip to Alaska.

I came down with a cold - knew it was too good to last. I made it all winter long with no cold or flu and then I start having symptoms on the first day of Spring, I've got the scratchy throat, itchy watery eyes, runny nose, and a cough. All the classic symptoms. So far it's not too awful bad so it shouldn't slow me down too much. Just doesn't make me happy. Oh well, better days are coming.

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