a little pilgrimage

 So when you're driving the five-hours-or-so from Ashland Oregon up to Portland, and you've got a little less than an hour to kill before you have to refill the rental car with gas and return it to the airport, and then go check in for your red-eye flight... what do you do?

I went to Powell's Books, the largest independently-owned bookstore in the country.

It was a delight. I was giddy. I didn't have time to browse for a book, but I got a sticker.

I hope to be back to the world by Monday. I've got customers lined up, and bikes to fix.

bike mechanic school: final days

(This is the fourth of four posts: you can find the first here, the second here, the third here.)

The emphasis in the last two days of mechanic school was on making a profitable business, whether as a mechanic or in some associated role in the bike industry. The practical work was a complete bike service, including breaking down and servicing all the systems, but at every step, we were also talking about maintaining customer service, minimizing liability, charging rates that were reasonable both for the customer and for the shop, informing the customer of unexpected charges, and the like. I found if difficult to both do the service on the bike to a level acceptable to the instructors, and do a writeup that was appropriate. 

Today we did no practical work. Instead, we had discussions of the bike industry generally, regional variations, sources of supply, community relations, and the like through the morning. 

After lunch was the exam: 100 questions in 90 minutes. There are different tests (although they may be the same test with the questions in different order). We had access to the book and our notes, to the tools in the shop, and to the information tables at every workstation... but if I'd counted on bei.ng able to look up all the answers, I never would have completed on time.

I got the certificate of completion, and I'm reasonably sure I passed the class and will get the certification; I'll post the results in either case. I can't give a picture of the completion certificate, because between the 6lb student manual and some specialty tools I bought (at a good discount), my luggage would have been overweight. The secretary of the school offered to have the tools and manual shipped to me... and the certificate will be in that box. So more will be revealed as it occurs.

bike mechanic school: a better day

(This is the third of four posts: you can find the first here, the second here, the fourth here.)

Wednesday of week two at the bike school. We studied mountain bike suspension systems, and I learned a lot of the theory of how the various fork systems work, and about setup of a new bike for a rider. (I also learned I don't want to do a lot of work on these; much of the service is proprietary, other service requires tools I don't want to have to get. And there's waste oil to have to deal with... And a number of these services are supposed to be performed every 40-100 hours of riding. If a rider puts in ten hours on a weekend - not impossible for an enthusiastic rider - that's service as often as every four weeks. Are all those guys at Blackwells Mills/Six Mile Run doing that?)

We also did some frame preparation work. The heat required for assembling metal frames (which are brazed or welded together) causes inescapable deformation in the frameset, and modern components (especially) require near-perfect alignment to work properly and have a reasonable lifespan. We learned about chasing threads, and facing bearing surfaces. It's not hard work, but it requires thousands of dollars worth of tools. I suspect older, more-established shops will have the setups (especially those that cater to elite riders), and I'll probably refer the work to them. But it was fun to do, and good to have the experience and know what I'm looking at.

Because the blog presents these posts in reverse chronological order, my first two posts appear after this one in the blog, so I figured I'd put up a few establishment pics so you know what the place looks like and what we're doing. Below, one of the workstations:

Commonly-used tools and fluids are on the board; other tools are in the drawers at the left. Instructors come around daily to check that the tools are all in place and present. The practice teaches having an organized workspace, and I like it; I could easily do with improvement in my organization.

Each station has a road bike to work on:

... as well as a mountain bike and a gravel bike.

The school makes a point that these bikes are not available to ride. I initially thought it was just about not wanting to risk losing the bike, but because these bikes are constantly being worked on, many of the parts are not torqued to specification (because so much opening-and-reattaching would weaken threaded surfaces), and there are other modifications that make them great for the classroom, but hazardous on the road.

The school has also built up some specialty assemblies, which are kept at each workstation:

This one has a lot going on: in addition to a threaded 1" stem (which was common on the bikes I grew up with - that's the one with the adjustable handlebar height, and it's still common on less-expensive bikes), it's also got a cable-actuated disk brake on one side, and a linear-pull "vee" brake on the other.

On the left of this assembly, there's a two-piece crankset in a press-fit BB30 bottom bracket; on the right, a three-piece crankset with a loose-ball threaded bottom bracket. I am ridiculously proud of having been able to overhaul both.

(If you read the blog post I posted earlier [it's below if you're reading from the top of the blog], you know I had an attack of vertigo in class. It hasn't recurred. I'm taking extra care of myself, just in case.)

bike mechanic school, beginning of week two: shifting, vertigo, and headsets

(This is the second of four posts; you can find the first here, the third here, the fourth here.)

In my last post, I wrote about being in the last bike licensed bike mechanic school in the country, and how much I loved it and what I was learning. Today is Tuesday of the second week; we learned about shifting systems yesterday and this morning...

... and then, as we were going into a break about 10am, I started to see the room spin. Soon thereafter, my legs were weak, and I felt hot; I tried to get outdoors to cool down, but couldn't; I was caught by a couple of classmates as I fell. Two others of my classmates had EMT experience; one pulled out a blood-pressure cuff (from where?) and a diabetic classmate got out some test strips. I sat outside for a bit, and the EMT-experienced guys thought a visit to the ER was in order.

The dean of the school brought me to the ER, while the provost left a message and sent a text to my wife. All this time, I was mostly worried about getting back to class to make up the stuff I'd missed, and hoping I wouldn't have to drop out of class - and if I did have to drop out of class, I hoped my subsequent death would be immediate and painless.

But I cleared up in the ER (mostly), and within three hours, I was seen by the doc (if you have experience with ER's, you know this is unimaginably fast); he ran through some of the possible causes, which range from nothing-in-particular (like dehydration or electrolytes) to oh-my-god-I'm gonna-die-horribly (like brain tumors and cardiac problems). I told him I was an easterner, and he gave me a list of problems to go over with my doc when I got home, and told me it probably was not a rush to deal with this stuff, UNLESS it happens again while I'm here in Oregon. (I've had dizzy spells before, mostly when I was in grammar school; the last about 20 years ago. And I've been eating unusually, sleeping poorly, and generally living like I have no routine, so I suspect those are the real reasons.)

I got back shortly after lunch. I'd only missed a few bits about headsets and steering systems (I know a lot of that stuff) and a too-short discussion of electronic shifting (I'm of mixed feelings about that; I had hoped there would be more... but if there HAD been more, I would have missed that, too).

Except for the lecture, I'm caught up with the school, and I'll be catching up with the text when I finish this post. This day has been too memorable. We're on to suspensions tomorrow, and I, for one, will be grateful for the lack of drama.

And how was your day?

bike mechanic school, week one

(This is the first of four posts; you can see the second here, the third here, the fourth here.)

 I'm writing this post (and the last two, and probably some later ones) from Ashland Oregon, home of the United Bicycle Institute, where I'm taking their two-week course in Professional Repair and Shop Operation. I've been mechanic-ing around on bikes for years, mostly self-taught, and I had this idea that it would be a good idea to get some real, official training on it, so coming to a school has been a "bucket list" thing, with which The Excellent Wife (TEW) decided to go along.

She did all the research, and found a place to stay, and set up the flights, and yadda yadda, and the next thing you know, I'm registered for the course, and we're planning to stay in Ashland. 

(Well, there's a bit more to it than that. I found out that a sort of a local bicycling-biz rival went to either this course or a competing one, and told me he didn't pass the final. And now, of course, I GOTTA pass the final, so I can gloat insufferably about it.)

Ashland itself is kind of a hippie refuge plopped into the southern Oregon mountains, an island of new-wave, woo-woo, too-much-money radicalism in the deep red heart of rural Oregon farming and logging country. There's a food cooperative whose properties cover about a full block in the city, lots of Tarot reading and moon jewelry, and a bike co-op where you can buy a beater for not-a-lotta-money, and, if you're a student at the school, you can sell it back at the end of the class for half what you paid for it. So that's what TEW and I did.

It'll only cost $47.50 after I sell it back to 'em.

School started on the Monday. There are some in the group; like me, who are taking this because we just want to (in some cases, guys - we're all guys, in this class - have known about the school for years, and are only able to get to take it now, because they've retired from an earlier career); others are currently working in the bike industry. Closer to Oregon, the certification has a certain reputation, and shops look for mechanics who have it.

The instructors, however, point out that this is a trade school, and are all business. The first part of the first day is given to introductions and basic shop skills and tool knowledge, and then we're into servicing hubs; we have to break down a loose-ball hub and rebuild it. I'm pretty good at setting the preload in these hubs, but I don't generally open them up, and when I did these, I made a stupid mistake switching balls between the front and rear. By the time I learned my mistake, I'd wasted a lot of time, and barely completed the assignment by the end of the day. Certain tasks have to be signed off each day, or be made up, and I did NOT want to have my first day marred by a missed assignment! (It turned out that for the next couple of days, I'd be shaken by my bad experience on the first day...)

But done is done; and my bench partner and I were able to complete by the end of the day; this task, and the others assigned. I've learned about the bearings, but I've also learned about having more discipline in my shop practice, and maybe not to have two tasks going, where I might get confused between them!

Most of the students are reasonable friendly, but we're still deciding how comfortable we are with each other.

I'm almost certainly the oldest at 68, and my bad back was acting up; I was initially seated where I could not see the screen where the projections are, and stood with my cane to see; my seat was later moved, and a bench stool was offered. I initially refused, but today we're doing wheels. There will be a lot of standing, and I might decide that my frailty deserves compensation, and get the stool.

My birthday is on the 6th, and two other students have birthdays. I initially thought I'd pop for a cake on Monday, but the school administrator may be making other plans; more news on that as it happens.

Tuesday:

It turned out one of the instructors' wife made us muffins for our birthday! 

Today was wheels day. I'd done research on the school, including looking up experiences of people who'd attended. I found a few (not many, and none of which I've been able to find since), and several talked about how hard doing the wheels in a single day was. I've built wheels, but I'm not good at it; I'm slow and I make mistakes I have to go back and fix. At the school, the time is limited, and the tolerances expected are demanding. Further, the school instructors and administrators know that the wheels are particularly hard for students; they set the wheels for day 2, and the final wheels aren't "due" until day eight (of ten), which allows for two late nights to work on them.

The technique they teach, though, is straightforward and repeatable. I got the wheel laced immediately. When I was tightening it up, however, it went way out of true in about every way possible. But managing that is also built into the technique - including taking breaks and going to do something else (in this case, work on the other wheel).

It didn't help that I'd had such trouble with my hub the previous day; it also didn't help that one of my fellow students didn't even get both wheels laced by the end of the day. I was worried; I didn't want to wash out on day two.

But I got 'em. I had two acceptable wheels by the end of the day, and then had them broken down and parts in the bins before I left (admittedly, in the allowed overtime at the end of the day, but still; I was done). A few other students were also done, but most were still toiling away at their truing stands when I left.

I got through wheels day. I am MUCH more relieved and confident, and likely to enjoy this class much more now. (My back and foot hurt a LOT after this, though; it turns out, in addition to the scoliosis I knew I have, I also likely have plantar fasciitis.)

Wednesday:

Today was much easier for me. We were talking about rim brake systems, and I've got a lot of experience with those. We learned a technique, new to me, for mounting road caliper brakes. I like the way I do it better, but having another technique is never a waste.

Students here are allowed a discount from a certain tool manufacturer, Abbey Tools, and from QBP, Quality Bike Products, the largest wholesaler in the US bike industry. We can get a really good discount on products from both... but everything I get, I've either got to ship back, or get into my luggage, so I'm satisfying myself with one specialty tool from Abbey and a few small things I might not buy for myself from QBP. Neither the New Brunswick Bike Exchange nor Ramblin' Wrench has the credit history or the size to have an account at QBP, so this is a bit of a missed opportunity, alas...

Thursday:

Today was for hub brakes. We touched on coaster brakes, drum brakes, and roller brakes, and  set up and adjusted a cable disk brake, but spent most of the day on fluid disk brakes and flushing the systems. 

That bench partner above was so patient and helpful to the geezer in the beat-up tan blazer! Gabe, I'm in your debt. But the process is easier than it looks, if you have the system set up. (I'd done one at the Bike Exchange that didn't work out, and I now have reason to believe that the problem wasn't my technique, but a problem in the brake system.)

Friday:

Friday was cranks, bottom brackets, and bearings. I've done a lot of these, but I had another chance to do a loose ball bearing fitting (MUCH better this time!! ... and I may be the only person in the class who's actually worked on them in a bottom bracket), and to do press-fit bearings. These have been removed and installed so many times that I'm sure they're looser than most, but the mounting is mostly in having the tools, and setting them up right. The Excellent Wife (TEW)'s bike has 'em, and they're of a type that probably should have been serviced already, so I'll go see to that. (And it's a reason to buy some new tools!!)

The school is across the railroad tracks from several things you'd like to do at lunch (like get to the Ashland Food Cooperative), and the follow-the-streets route goes a long way around. I'd seen in the classroom that there was a shortcut across the tracks, but couldn't figure out where it started. I overheard other students talking about it today, and got the info and tried it... but part of it is overgrown, and doesn't make good going for a guy who walks with a cane sometimes. So I'm stickin' to the streets.

morning walk in ashland

 In the rest of the world, it may be spring, but the mountains around Ashland Oregon care not a whit for that, and make their own weather; it snowed in the mountains last night. I took a walk to get some pictures.

The AirBNB where I'm staying is in the lower left of the picture above.

And in my ramblings, I found a path that led to Railroad Park, on the other side of the tracks from the AirBNB. There is a Names Project installation there, after the Black Lives Matter protests.

Ashland being situated where it is, the installation has, of course, been vandalized. I think that's a good thing: it's a reminder that, as far as managing racism goes, we're nowhere near done.

awestruck, maybe

 I'm away at the United Bicycle Institute's Professional Repair and Shop Operation two-week class (there will be other posts about that). The Excellent Wife (TEW) accompanied me for the first week, and I don't post about being away while the house is empty, but she's back, and I'm alone here now. For the middle weekend of the class, I decided to take a drive to Jedediah Smith National & State Park to see the giant redwoods. TEW had gone by herself earlier in the week, and told me what to expect for the trip. 

But I don't think anything could have prepared me for the experience. It's a day later, and I still don't have words for it. I'll post some pictures, but they don't do justice for what being there was for me.

I make jokes about everything. I talk all the time. 

I have no words for this.