I finally got the winter bike running! High time, but it's been easy to be lazy because the weather has been nice.
NO MORE! Temps dropped here, making the gauntlets required.
The bike was crusted with grease and muck from last year, so I took off the back wheel and tore it down to get the cog chain and shifting bits really clean.
Riding home today I had a full load of groceries from Aldi. As I crossed 36th St, I suddenly had no gears! Then I realized I had 1st gear only! The shifter went slack, and nothing was changing. Closer inspection showed that the shifter bits had come disconnected from the hub. Double Damn! It was sunny, but around 5 degrees.
Rather than a long walk home, I decided to try and hope for a quick fix. I removed the kitty litter pannier on the drive side and laid it over on the other side on the other kitty litter bucket. My fingers were still warm so I got in there to see if I could reassemble the shifter. Took the cable out, and got thing situated. Then I realized that I had reversed the lock ring when I had reassembled. With a little more futzing I had it back together! Now get that cable back in line and we are ready to go!
All set to ride but my hands are covered in black lube! What's a fella to do now?
A quick scan of the area revealed a big napkin on the road right in front of me! I was saved!
I picked up the quilted material and started wiping my hands when I noticed the 'napkin' had a large frozen lump in the middle. Closer inspection now also revealed a cinched elastic. Wait a minute, that's not a 'napkin'. It's a Diaper!
By this time my hands were mostly clean, so no sense leaving the job half done. I WAS careful not to warm it up too much.
The rest of the ride went without a hitch. (And I DID transport my 'napkin' to the nearest trash bin)
It just goes to show - another man's diaper is another man's diaper/napkin.
