Saturday, July 10, 2010

How long does it take to reassemble a recumbent?

Too darn long!  We started putting my bike back together at 9 am.  I worked on it alone for 30 min or so and was having problems, so Jim H, one of the crew started helping me.  We discovered that everything I did accomplish was messed up - chain and cables assembled on the wrong side of the seat stays, rear derailer was weird.  So we spent at least 30 min fixing my mistakes.  The issues we had after that:

Seat stay screws on the wrong side of the seat stays
Rear Deraileur was wanting to cross thread and had to be tapped out
New wing nuts were not the same thread size
speedometer sensor broke off the mount

So, once we worked out all of those problems we started working on the headset.  John L joined us and we worked on this for a long time.  It was either too loose or too tight.  Finally, I just settled and decided to ride it a little too tight.  By this time it is noon.  3 hours working on the bike.  I spend an hour getting the bike case ready to ship to Slo Joe and getting dressed for my ride to the beach.

So I finally get to start my ride to the beach.  But, something is just not right.  I have problems steering and the bike is really unsteady.  I go back to the motel and we realize that my front tire is not tightened onto the bike.  Problem solved, right - no!  I ride out again and it still is not right.  The wheel is just not under control.  John L worked on it again, and we decided something was really wrong as nothing we did worked. john asked if there might be a part missing.  i told him that I zip tie all the loose parts so nothing should be missing. I mentioned that if there were loose parts on the fork, I did not know about it and they could be missing.  So, we call Jim at ride South and he gives Jim enough info to look to see if in fact I am missing a part.  And yes, a small collar is missing!  Ugh!  John looks to see if the collar in a spare headset will work, but it does not.  So I go into the hotel to see if the part may be in the bike case.  Certainly, I would have seen it if it had been there.  So, I unpack the bike case and the part is just not there.  I am facing the fact that i may not be able to ride for a day or two.  And then I just notice a small gleam of silver peaking out from a slit in the bottom of the case -  it is the part!  I rush it out to John as I would have to go to the riders meeting momentarily.  He and Jim finish putting the bike together in 5 minutes and it is finally done!  Yeah!  My 2 mile test ride is good - all systems are go!

Tomorrow will be the first day heading East.  It is also going to be one of the hardest days of the trip.  We will ride to Whenatchie Washington.  Cross your fingers all goes well!

3 comments:

Susan said...

Glad you had the expert help of Jim and John. Hope that's the end of bent wrinkles :)

Know that I'll be following you deaily. Enjoy Day 1. I'm in Boston right now and you should have rolled out 15 minutes ago.

Bill Mendenhall said...

Whew! What an ordeal! At least you won't have to do that again. When you get back, you can make Jim Snider put it back together for you. Hope you're having a blast Michelle. We love hearing from you.

-Bill

Unknown said...

Martha John and I were anxiously awaiting word from you as we were heading back from Meridian triathlon. I was so bummed that you had so many challenges. THRILLED beyond words that it got worked out though. Congrats on finishing your first full day!!! WE ALL KNEW YOU WOULD/COULD DO IT!!! Have fund! Looking forward to the next post. Keep the texting going!!!