Sick Day?

I called in sick today to take a break from the work place and try to get in a little R & R, but one chore I wanted to take care of was the hot water handle in the shower. It's been acting up and just needed a new washer. In order to do the repair I needed to cut off the water supply to the house and it's no big deal, I've done it several times in the past. Well after fixing the shower I noticed the shut off valve was leaking. Great! I was hoping to get lucky by pulling the stem out, buying  a similar valve and putting the new stem in. Not a chance! The valve is/was probably the original from 40 years ago and they've gone through several changes since. 

Here's the culprit now and I think I see the problem. 

I used our Christmas Tree funnel to catch the water and transfer it into the bucket while I scratched my head. 

Here's a before picture with a little better view after cutting the drywall out of the way. 

After 7 hours, 4 trips to the store and 50 bucks worth of parts, I have a finished product and a little more experience in the plumbing department. I actually got pretty lucky because I didn't have to do any digging. So much for my R & R?  

  

I did the repair correctly, but I had some bad luck during the process so I'm leaving the funnel in place just in case. 

Smelly Bell

This morning I went through my normal routine of getting all my riding gear on and one of the last items installed is the helmet. I placed it on my head and a stream of yesterdays, cold sweat immediately ran down my forehead. Ugh! I guess I forgot to wipe it off before setting it down for the night. There was a light drizzle out and it was going to get wet again, so hit the road only to find out that it had a really bad odor to it as well. REALLY BAD! I had a head wind for the better part of the ride and cranking on the pedals with your head down allows the air travelling over your helmet to cross your face, giving you a blast of stinky air the entire time.  Needless to say, I brought it into the shower with me and gave a good cleaning, so it’ll be good for another 4 or 5 months. : ) 

Cross Anyone?

I’ve been on the lookout for another bike for Susan for a few months now and in December, a Double Check teammate told me he was selling his and I should take a look at it. We finally got the chance to meet up and he gave me a price. But if I built him some replacement cabinets for his trailer he'd drop the price by that much. I took him up on his offer and now Susan is the proud owner of a 2008 Redline Conquest Pro.  I had to order new shifters for it because she liked the SORA STi shifters on her old bike and I didn’t want to confuse her with Paddle design. Anyway, Ebay was kind enough to have plenty of what I needed so purchased a new set for less than a hundred bucks and spent the day swapping over the stem, tires, fenders, handlebar and shifters from one bike to the other. If you haven’t taken a look inside your shifter and studied the mechanics, you really need too. Who ever thought up the idea of putting the brake and derailleur cable together (integrated shifter) was definitely a forward thinker.  Now I spent a fair amount of time working on bikes as a kid, but I can’t tell you how much I learned about modern day bike repair during this project. If you would like to have skills necessary to do any repairs in the field, I highly suggest start working on your own bike at the house. Trust me, it’ll pay off.  

Here, it’s prepped for cross season and down below I have it ready for the road.

Standing Room only.

I’ve been having lower back problems for several years now and I thought I would try something new. My brother told me a few weeks ago that he has a standing work station in his office, so I decided to make one for myself and give it a try. Yesterday was day one and I “want to say…?” my lower back is feeling better. Now if I can just get my feet to stop hurting. : )  I’m guessing it’ll be a couple weeks for the transition to take place and my body to accept it. I do have a bar stool to sit/lean on for the occasional break. As long as my PF doesn’t come  back, I’ll stick with it.