We actually got up at about 6am. But today there was a leisurely shower and breakfast. I did some work on my summer course, read email, and invited a few more folks to follow this blog.At Debbie’s insistence we biked into Camp Hill to the bike shop without confirming that they could help us. We left here at about 9am for the 6- to 7-mile ride (with only three gears). Debbie decided to take us the hilly way. We walked a lot. I was not happy but on the way back we took the other route and she turned out to be right. It took us about 1:20 to go the 6.3 miles.
The shop was Holmes Bicycle Shop, 2139 Market Street, Camp Hill, PA 17011. They could not have been more accommodating. We were met by Jeff, a mechanic at the shop, who had us bring the bike in. I told him that we had broken a shifter cable. He started working on the cable which was going to be no problem. Then we got lucky. Debbie added that the bike was making lots of strange noises, banging, creaking, metallic popcorn like stuff. Jeff started wiggling things like the rear wheel, the rear crank, and the front crank.
He found that the rear bottom bracket (pedals) was going -he could replace it. Whew!! Then the rear wheel. He took it off and pulled the axle. It was shot. Half the threads were worn smooth and there were only 8 of the nine bearing still in there. Ouch!! No wonder it was making noise.
But wait, there’s more!!! After fixing the axle (he had a tandem axle in stock) he put the wheel back on to find that the last person to work on the brakes had installed them backwards and the pads were being held in place by a little pin (dangerous).
You think we are finished? There were four broken spokes in the front wheel and the sealed bearing is showing signs of wear. It should not go very soon but he suggested that it would be less expensive to simply by a new wheel than to have this one repaired.
When we got back we found that he had fixed a spring in the rear derailleur that had been causing a shifting problem for while. When all the parts were installed, he did the tune-up we had asked him to do. He did a terrific job. In all he worked about 2.5 - 3 hours on the bike. We count ourselves lucky that we found this shop.
During much of this time we were at lunch at The Cornerstone CoffeeHouse. They had terrific panini.
The bike road almost like new on the way back to the motel. Unfortunately Debbie spied a DQ and we stopped for a couple of blizzards. While there we met a veteran who had been in Germany at the Olympics at the same time as Debbie (army brat) at the time that the Israeli athletes were attacked. They shared several other postings around the world. It was like old homes week for them.
After a while we left and stopped at a supermart for dinner picnic fixings.
The day was 13.2 miles in 2:58 for 7.8 mph. Not bad for large chunks of walking.
Debbie’s emotionometer: Anxiety about getting the bike up and running then elation at getting such a full overhaul. Our hope now is that the bike will be much more efficient and that we will get more speed for the same amount of effort.
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