The Spirit of the Snake

After I removed the wasted chain and rear derailleur from the Rocky "Blizzard", I tossed it in the corner and forgot about it. Well, I did not toss it, but I may as well have. I feel guilty. That bike was and is the best fit I have ever had from a bicycle. That bike has been the most dependable bike I remember tossing a leg over. Ride after ride, it did what I asked with little complaint. And now it sits broken and bleeding in a dusty corner of my shop.

I will fix it. It will ride again. But the surgery needed requires that the patient be stablized first. I don't think the Blizzard is yet. It took quite a hit. It needs a few days to recover, before it can handle any more shock to it's system. The derailleur hanger is bent badly. I expect to be successful in straightening it, but I need to be prepared for the worst case scenario - Loss of a limb due to extreme trauma. But the Blizzard is tough. I am sure it will pull through.

In the meantime, as expected, the parts for my new ride came in the day after the Blizzard's suicide attempt. UPS Guy pulled up in front while I was out back washing Ave's old GT Zaskar. After he left, I looked at the four boxes and wondered how long it would take me to build the wheels. Nevermind finish the build.

I had promised to stay late to help Young Jim from Shapleigh bleed his Shimano Deore Brakes after I closed tonight. I figured between helping him and telling tales, I might just leave for home with the wheels built.


Dash Jim(another Jim - we have way too many Jims hanging out here)swung by in the late afternoon. Since he is the Hydraulic Brake Master, he took Young Jim under his wing and between the two of them, took care of completely rejuvenating Young Jim's brakes. I was left alone to build my wheels. And build them I did.

Not satisfied with getting this far on the custom build, I began to install parts on the Frame. Headset lead to Fork which led to Bars and Stem which led to Tires which led to Cranks and finally it all stopped after Derailleurs, Cassette & Chain. Before I knew it, it was stupid late and I had an almost complete bike to take pleasure in.

Tomorrow I finish it. Uh, no, make that later today. Time really flies when you are having fun.