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After about 35 years of riding bikes I glued on my first tub tonight. Am quite giddy after the event but suspect that's more down to solvent than the achievement. All seemed pretty straightforward but have yet to use the wheel!
glueing tubs is quite a relaxing job, barrring the stench.
It's like waxing leather walking boots or a brooks saddle. Very satisfying.
I concur, quite therapeutic really.
Servicing a cup and cone hub for the first time and feeling how smooth it is...
Faceplant.
Stripping a thread the night before a big ride and breaking a sweat.
Truing your own wheel.
Stripping a thread the night before a big ride and breaking a sweat.
Ah yes, I sheared the head off a pivot bolt the day before flying out for a week in Morzine. Fair to say I broke a sweat!
Servicing a cup and cone hub for the first time and feeling how smooth it is...
Proper black art stuff that!
Fitting headset cups with a block of hood and a hammer,
Building a bike, rather than buying off the shelf
indexing a rear mech perfectly
I'd add bleeding brakes to the list too.
collar bone
Repairing a tub.
Sudocream cream.
Infected arse hair follicle.
Walking along a track pretending you are riding a bike along it.
When riving along and seeing a manhole cover you ease the throttle / lift you weigh up slight up slightly in a subconsciousnesly manor as the wheels pass over it.
Seeing a man with a big beard makes you think of Sheldon Brown.
Buying parts secretly like an alcoholic hide their drinking.
Having an old bike or frame that you will not throw away for scentimental reasons.
Snowdon
scentimental reasons
the way it smells?
Riding 100 miles (in one go)
Building a pair of wheels from scratch
First free-range log.
Getting the bar tape on a road bike right....
Setting off a speed camera
getting caught in rain so heavy that you just accept and somewhat enjoy getting completely drenched.
Getting every part of the bike and yourself dirty (some parts may only become wet/gritty) in one ride.
Getting both wheels off the ground for the first time.
Breaking a bone.
Cycling home without any lights on.
Being stopped by the police for speeding.
Going into a bike shop and not being patronised.
Riding a bike you built from the tubes up.
Hitting a sheep.
Hitting a sheep 😯
Accidentally. It's not a hobby or anything.
sitting in the bus stop at Peaslake, drinking a cup of coffee and eating a cheese straw after sessioning Barry's
Fitting headset cups with a block of hood and a hammer,
There's another way?
Everyone should have a go at building a wheel. Getting it true is alomst as good as a 4 jaw chuck.
Wearing your first ever pair of padded shorts
Chamois cream
Paying more for your bike than you did for your car
First alpine col
Failing to unclip in front of a whole load of people (ideally of the opposite sex)
Getting down something with no idea how
Dolly Waggon Pike
First hour long descent
Stuff behind the Nat West in Swindon
Megavalanche
Failing to unclip in front of a whole load of people (ideally of the opposite sex)
For bonus points, topple slowly onto the bonnet of a police car.
First chairlift to the top of your first ever bike park run 🙂
Being chased by a dog.
Getting a tyre off without using levers/spoons.
Getting a tyre on without using levers/spoons.
Repairing a puncture at the side of the road or in the company of feral sheep.
Getting nailed by a taxi while riding home drunk. (Actually I don't recommend it.)
Having a bike stolen.
🙁
Stopping for cakes and tea and not caring how many calories because, dammit, I just rode for the last four hours.
😛
Riding into a parked car because you were looking behind you, then hoping no-one's watching as you pick yourself up off the floor.
Bonking
Pinning on a number
Being hit by a car 🙁
First 200 miler in one go.
Riding fixed.
Taking your first corner on a fixed bike
Doubles
Your first, really fast chain gang where you're thundering along at 35mph in a big crowd and it's not hurting you in the slightest.
The three peaks.
And the not recommended things
First snapped crank
First snapped frame
First time being hit by a car
First fight with a motorist
Pushing your bike home 13 miles because it's broken catastrophically
Pedalling home 13 miles with one leg because your crank snapped.
Paying more for your bike than you did for your car
you own a car!!!!
Jonba - Yes, a proper bonk is a triumphant a rite of passage...Speed dropped to a wobbly 3 miles an hour, head down, legs shaking and the longest 5 miles home you'll ever ride.
overtaking cars descending a col
First 24hr solo
First day on crutches (today as it happens)
That zen like moment on a long trip when everything is just right.
Smiling from head to toe ,you feel tuned in to everything .
🙂