i got a wheel!!

woohoo! a very dear friend sent me a bike wheel the other day. as previously mentioned, i cracked the crappy wheel that came on my motobecane fantom cross uno. yup, still trying to figure that one out. well, it was a beautiful blue mavic cosmos, which after some research i found out is no longer being produced. now, i've put some time in to my road bike and a crash or two, ouch. plus, i live in the pothole capital of the world known as dc. the mavic open sport front wheel is in need of a truing, so i switched out the wheels. the murrrcycle deserves the nicer, albeit slightly heavier wheel. pfffttt, we are talking grams here people, i can't really tell the difference! i hate changing bike tires, but i've gotten quick! well, once i can pull that damn tire off the rim. thanks tire lever for saving my nails! the new wheel came perfectly true, and i got some strange looks walking home from work with a bike wheel in my hand. hey, it would have been better than dragging home the box that was pretty much the size of me. so my bikes are now both happy. can you see them giving each other googly eyes in the pic?? :) the best part? i am back to biking around the city and locking up my bar bike without a care in the world!!

time to true a wheel...

oh jesus. i enjoy libations of the alcoholic kind. this isn't a shock to anyone who knows me. hey, i'm irish catholic, it's like my god given right in life. yeesh, let me at least have that! anyhow, it was just another normal wednesday night, hanging out with a friend and drinking beer, after beer, after beer. did i mention i was drinking beer? sigh... somehow i pretty much damaged my front wheel on my single speed cyclocross bike. how? well, frankly, that's a good question, and if you know, please leave the answer in the comments. i must be the queen of somehow messing up my bike. last year's fiasco was the broken rear derailleur on the murrrcycle, thank god for the bike mechanic boyfriend at the time. so, tomorrow i will take the single speed over to my parents' neighbor who is always building, fixing, doing something to bikes, a cool french guy. he says he can help with the truing. i hope he's right. i am pretty positive the wheel isn't bent, but then again, i woke up with only one contact in my eye. where the hell did the other go? frankly, this seems to be the running theme of my life at the moment! let me get this wheel straightened out and maybe my life will straighten itself out too!

update!!!
came home tonight and inspected my wheel one last time before i took it over to be trued... yup sunlight, you do help one see. that's a nice crack right there on the rim. great, have to buy a new wheel....

my favorite thing

that is all.

my new obsession...

is avoiding the bike shop. i love my bike, and i want to learn how it works all on my own. sure i own "zinn and the art of road bike maintenance" and have the park tools website bookmarked. i cleaned my drive train the other day. i was covered in grease and it felt soo awesome! why? i did it myself. the next day i went for a ride and my bike purred. ahhh, so that's what it sounds like when not covered in dirt. oh my god, it actually shifts nicely too! 0.o i take a bit of pride in owning a chain whip! i appreciate the specialized ruby elite (a.k.a. the murrrcyle) even more! it's my bike and i love it!