Oh Man, I Should Have Stretched Out First

You know that feeling you get in your legs when you've been sitting for a long time, and then you stand up and take a few stiff strides across the restaurant's floor or through a parking lot to get to a bathroom? 

No? Well, then you must not be old. But if you do, then you know what my mind feels like right now. I haven't written anything in months, and now the process is slow and slightly painful. There are all kinds of ways you can get out of shape. Instead of the gym, I need to go to the blog for a mental workout. 

Like taking those first arduous steps, the hardest part of writing for me is simply starting. The ideas swirl around in my head like fall leaves in a strong wind. I can't pin any one down. 

I need to stop complaining and just start typing...

Okay, let's see. What have we been doing?

Charlotte is a drummer in the high school band, and now she's busier than ever. Char has early morning marching band practices, after school band lessons, evening percussion sectionals, and evening jazz band practices. Then there are the home football game performances on Friday nights, and marching band competitions on Saturdays - both at which Daphne and I volunteer to help move the pit on and off the field. Band... it's a family affair. When marching band is done, Char's jazz band practices will move to mornings, she'll have concert band during the school day, and her show choir practices (she drums for a group) will move to the evenings. Sports have seasons. Band runs all year long. 

I'm just glad that she is enjoying herself so much. When I asked, "How was your first marching competition?"

"Fire." was her one-word reply

When we're not driving Char to and from school/band, Daphne enjoys her sewing room and our kitchen. I enjoy my basement and our garage. Here's my latest garage project's before pic:

It's a Mongoose Hilltopper SX from 1997 (I think). Where it's at: I've got two flat tires and the grips are blown" (my apologies to Beck). I'm guessing Goodwill was only asking $15 for this bike because the index shifters weren't working, one pedal's toe clip was broken, the locked bike lock had no combination, and everything else was dirty, oily, or greasy.

That, my friends, can all be fixed.

Besides, it was sporting a bike shop sticker. That means this bike had been in the hands of a professional who was proud enough of their work to put their name on it. My guess is that Wayne Donohue assembled this bicycle sometime before he closed his shop in 2002. He owned and operated his business for 12 years, and I bet he knew his stuff (info provided by Linked In).

I've seen people on YouTube fix shifters like these with a can of WD-40 or B'laster. The idea is that the original factory grease in the shifters has become sticky, and the little pawls that help pull the cable are stuck in place. The old grease needs to be flushed out and new lube needs to be sprayed in.  

I pumped up the tires and then went shopping.

I found this generic-looking can of "Spray Lubricant" at our local Dollar Tree (which now charges $1.25 for everything). I'm impressed with this stuff. I used the thin straw that's taped to the can to shoot lube into the insides of each shifter housing. Then I flicked the shifter levers back and forth until the sticky pawls started catching. Both shifters took about 15 minutes to come back to life.

The tires were still holding air, and the brakes seemed to be okay, so I put on a helmet and took a slow test drive... alright! I had a bicycle that would go, stop, and shift. I could have stopped there and put the bike up for sale for a quick flip. But what's the fun in that?

I removed the toe clips, broken and whole, from the pedals. Then I used Super Glue Mounting Tape (also from the Dollar Tree) to adhere the toe clip's reflector to the "blank" sides of the pedals. That doesn't look too bad, and the mounting tape seems pretty solid.

 

For now I'm using these pedals that I bought for another bike, but didn't use. I think the pedal's blue does an okay job of matching the blue on the shocks and the kickstand.

I was surprised that this chain was not worn out. It was just dry and dirty. The same goes for the derailleurs, the cogs, and the chainrings. Those and the cables were cleaned and lubed after this pic was taken.

After a thorough cleaning and a lengthy tune-up, I added a new bell and new grips. 

Kickstands are pretty handy when you are moving stuff around a crowded garage. The pedals and the kickstand are from Amazon.

"Small Block Eight" reminds me of being a teenager with magazine subscriptions to Hot Rod and Car Craft. These 26x2.1 tires came from China via AliExpress. 

This stem cap, also from AliExpress, reminds me that my favorite holiday is right around the corner.

I think the cap is the rug that really ties the room together. 

A previous owner had a stem extender installed (I bet Mr. Donohue did the installation). That and the fat tires make the Mongoose comfortable to ride. I really enjoy bombing down our hill into our cul-de-sac. 

Speaking of tires... I liked the Small Block Eight tires so much I ordered another 26x2.1 pair for another bike, but I forgot to get tubes for those tires. But look what I found at Goodwill last week:

Trust me. This is weird. How often do you go into a thrift store and find exactly what you wanted? These tubes are the right size and have never been used.

Sure, they're older than my teaching career, but I think these tubes will be just fine. If they blow, I'll let you know.

Here's the "finished" bike. I did the math, and it owes me $110. Or $85 if I go back to the o.g. pedals. Either way, that's pretty cheap for how many times the Mongoose has made me smile. This isn't a bicycle that's going to make anyone jealous, but I won't be embarrassed to park it in front of our local brewery. 

Whoops, I almost forgot. I was able to figure out the combination to that bike lock by pulling it taut and turning the wheels at the same time. Sheesh. These locks really aren't very good. Although I suppose they could slow down a thief that didn't have bolt cutters in their pocket.

Okay. I feel better. I feel better just for getting off the couch and mentally working out for a bit. I probably should wait until tomorrow before I hit the "publish" button. I'm sure I made some grammatical errors and punctuation mistakes that I would catch later.

Nah. I'm gonna push it.