Old Blue in the Shop

I have always loved my road bike.  It's a Trek 1420, and I bought it in 1992, as a gift to myself after my first promotion at 3M.  It wasn't top-of-the-line, but it was a high quality touring bike.  Back then, I used to ride it 16 miles to work several times a week, alongside the celery fields in Camarillo, California.  I remember Saturday mountain rides, struggling to keep up with the guys as we climbed the mountains around Ojai, and oceanside rides, looking out on the rocky cliffs and the waves, and being just in awe that this was my life.

But life happens, things change, and after California, bike riding in New Ulm, Minnesota didn't have the same appeal.  Then Sarah was born, and my bike was left to gather dust.  I'm ashamed to say that it gathered dust for about 11 years before I realized how much I missed cycling.  It took another year for me to lose enough weight to get back in the saddle comfortably.

I still remember the first time I got Blue saddled up and headed out for a ride again - as I rode down the street, my whole body relaxed and I thought "Aaahh.  THIS is where I'm supposed to be."  But, Blue was a bit worse for the wear.  All that time hanging around, and she paid a price.  If I had thought about it, I would have shifted gears at least once a year, changing the tension on the cables so they didn't develop a memory.  But I didn't.

Before my first ride, I got her tuned up and ready to go.  But she just wasn't the same.  We'd fight - I'd shift gears, and she'd shift back, usually when I was cranking hard - jamming my knee and making me swear under my breath.  She had a gear she liked, and wanted to stay with it.  I told the bike shops about our arguments, but after two separate tune-ups at two different bike shops, I was starting to think that we were two cranky old ladies who just had to learn to put up with each other.

The situation was tolerable, but things got a little harder to take once Gary got his flashy new (non-grumpy) road bike.  HIS bike shifted without a hitch, willingly, with a simple twitch of the fingers on the brakes.  Beautiful integrated shifters - no hands off the handlebars, reaching down to find the levers, monkeying until it "felt" right, listening for the gear change - completely automated, smooth as silk, and I was jealous.

Because Gary is the kind of guy that he is, and because I am not above using guilt to shift outcomes in my favor, we talked about upgrading my bike with integrated shifters.  He discussed it with the bike store when he was shopping for his bike, and was told it could be done, for about $200.  For those of you who don't ride, $200 on a bike might seem expensive, but, in the cycling world, where "real" bikes start at $1500, it's a bargain.

Thinking that I would eventually get the upgrade made riding more tolerable.  When Blue was cranky, I would think "just you wait - I'm going to get those shifters and all these troubles will be behind us!"

And then the crash happened.  When I took Blue to the local bike shop to be repaired, I asked the mechanic to quote me a price for upgrading to integrated shifters.  He wasn't sure, so called out the lead mechanic - the one who would be doing the work - from the back.  The man who emerged had an arrogance born of experience - it was obvious he knew what he was talking about - and precious few social skills.  After subtly belittling the first mechanic and running through all the components that would need to be upgraded in order to make it work, the total was close to $550.

He looked at me, looked disdainfully down on Blue, and said "For that amount of money, I'd rather sell you a nice 10 speed."  It might not be obvious, but this was a serious slapdown.  No one who is even a little serious about cycling rides a 10 speed.  NO ONE in the cycling community calls it a "10 speed" - it's a road bike.  His comment was an indictment of both Blue and me.

Seething, I silently repeated "He's a jerk.  He's just a jerk." (I do admit that, in my head, I did use a stronger term than "jerk").  I agreed that it probably wasn't cost effective to upgrade, but could they please look into the shifting issue.  The head mechanic left, since that apparently was beneath him, and I continued talking with the original mechanic, who suspected that the problem was actually a bent derailleur hanger (part of the bike frame).

Long story short, I am now in love with the (nice) mechanic.  He trued my front wheel, fixed my bent frame, and Blue is back to her prime.  Well, not her prime - we both have a few battle scars - but she is running like a champ again!  She shifts so smoothly that I barely mind that I have to reach down to shift.

Now I might actually ride with Gary once in a while.  Especially if we can figure out a way to do it along the California coast.