last night I scheduled with the family a trip to city bikes in chevy chaseyes, the adams morgan shop is closer to my house
significantly closer... as neither shop is far
yet, the chevy chase shop offers parking, a larger store, a slightly less urban feel, and a mechanic that is expecting my arrival
time was moving fast
not in terms of the evening, but in terms of the changing seasons
the race season is just weeks away
it seemed prudent for me to take some of my own advice that was written up in the March issue of SPOKES
in this article I gave an absolute beginner's approach to the mountainbike season
talking about the bike, the body, and the trail
within this adolescent article effort I spoke about getting the bike into the shop sooner rather than later
later was rapidly approaching... as I had not done things sooner... immediately would have to be good enough
it took some time for that advice to sink in
well, it took budgeting some time and the cracking of a Karate Monkey frame to get me into the shop
so, after an hour at rush hour of battling it out with the cars on a short loop through Rock Creek Park
I arrived home to a house of wild monkeys
dean and grant were as wild as wild can be
their energy was all over the place
lisa had dinner prepared, but the boys were too wild to eat
when I went for the leashes to walk the dogs
the boys each asked to go with me
the boys each demanded to go with me
when the boys energy is like this a structured activity can be positive
exercise is almost always positive, unless of course you need to rest from an injury
these guys needed to get outside before they caused an injury
at times like this it can be positively imposible to get them to listen long enough to get ready to go
there were shoes to locate and hats to find
with a Petzel on my head the boys demanded Petzels on theirs
jackets were being peeled off as I tried to aid tieing shoes for the other
hiking boots on one child caused the other to want a change of shoes
really just the basic father of two boys bullshit
this moment in the evening that is not unlike most moments in the morning or any moment when trying to get out the door
the hike was not particularly eventful
I was pleased to get a short walk after a short ride
part of my "life is cumulative" short work out training plan
the boys were not given lights even after their demands
but the each managed to hike well enough even after the light was gone and the world took that dark violet crayon color
on more rocky or rooted sections I pointed the blue HID glow so that my able bodied two year old did not do an unnecccessary face plant
we returned home
the boys were a little more focused on food
I built a couch cushion fort to entertain them while I went to the bike shop
my efforts to make the evening easier for my wife ended up distracting the boys from their dinner
they are good eaters... if they are hungry they will eat
we allowed the distraction
with the boys entertained with the cushion, chair, blanket, couch fort combo I was able to load the Element with two bikes
one of the parts I needed from the shop was a roof rack part
as the clearance at the local fresh fields parking garage is not what it claims
lisa returned from shopping one day with a broken roof rack
so the bikes were put inside the vehicle rather than ontop
thursday night is a classic late night for the bike shop world
it is a convention that was created at some point in bike shop history
it makes sense for the modern world
as weekends and work hours are not always convenient for the standard cyclist with a basic 9-5 routine
but I do not know what shop in what era of time this late night thursday routine began
driving a stretch of road I had ridden earlier I made my way to chevy chase maryland
I rolled the two bikes to the back of the shop greeting the colorful cast of city bikes characters
when I got to the back of the shop it was good to see that bega was expecting me and was ready to take these bikes in for their needed repairs
the Surly Karate Monkey Single Speed was in for a warranty replacement of the cracked frame
so the frame would need to be stripped of its parts then sent back to Surly
while the geared Monkey had not been ridden in months
as a matter of fact I had removed the race numbers from the Shenandoah Mountain 100 from the handlebars before packing up the Honda Element aka the toaster
the geared bike was feeling pretty "tight" but I figured I would have a few things done in the way of preventive maintenance
wanted the bikes to be race worthy
not looking for a game of "wack-a-mole" on race day
with the bikes processed for repairs there was talk with sean bega about my recovery from a fall injury among other things
bega drove me away with his loose shoulder joint and his loose shoulder tricks
I can not stomach such things... not in a gross way... more in a way that hurts to look at
in any movie where there is a shoulder dislocation scene I need to look away and take my mind to a happy place
from sean in the back I moved to shawn in the front
shawn helped me shop for a bike for my wife
then aided in finding a cable hanger for the fixed gear project that has been dragging along
we made the Thule order and he gave me a deal on the OFF ROAD TO ATHENS film
although I have seen it twice I had been meaning to purchase it
as the DVDs are not moving as fast as they had hoped he gave it to me for 14 bucks
(a deal he will make for anyone, Off Road to Athens for 14 bucks plus tax)
the shop experience involved it usual club house exchanges
there was some talk about new gear and new bikes
discussions about 29er this and 29er that
walked away with a bag of stuff
some lights, some tubes, the dvd, the cable hanger, and a catalog to show the wife
although I had not really done anything
dropping off the bikes to be worked on was something that needed to be done
so there was a certain feeling of accomplishment
should have those two bikes back in my possession soon enough
at this point I will begin my return to dirt!
it will be a wonderful reunion
until then I will continue slugging it out on the road
hopefully the weather will be nice this weekend so I can pull the kids in the burley trailer
pulling 100 pounds of trailer for an hour and a half should translate into some sort of training
in addition to the drop off and purchases
I also made a pick up
the owners of City Bikes were generous enough to donate a Timbuk2 Messenger bag to a fund raising auction that my older son's school is having