SC1800 out of ice, on the road
by Steve ~ April 17th, 2009. Filed under: General, Maintenance & Repairs, Riding the Bike.
Three weeks makes a big difference in the Spring. The snow is gone. The SC1800’s bonds literally melted away. I brought it inside and gave it a little TLC. Brakes and derailers needed a little work. The BOD has been parked outside for over two full years, 50% of that time covered in snow, or frozen in ice. It responded remarkably well to some lubrication and adjustment. Both tires needed air. Note that the odometer is still working. That’s some kind of miracle. Temperatures were in the minus 40 range for about a month this winter, and the last. I can’t believe the tiny little battery in the odometer still has juice in it.
This year’s first ride was practical. I mapped out a route to school. 23 Km round trip. I’ll start doing that on Monday. Felt good to be back on the bod. Took a couple of pics. This is Omand’s Creek, at the point I crossed every day on my old commute. Spring flooding has left the bridge underwater.  The river walkway is completely submerged. Don’t know when that will appear. But I worked out a reasonably nice route along Wolesley, across the Assiniboine River, down Wellington Crescent, over the Maryland Bridge, through The Gates, along Westminster, across Osborne, down Assinniboine, through the Forks, down Riverside Drive, then into the Exchange District where the UW off-campus building is located. Should take me about 30 minutes each way, without sweating too much.
Related posts:
BOD on Holiday — August 8 — 10.9 Km
Department Store Bike horror story
April 18th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Good to see the BoD back on the road! I’m looking forward to further adventures this year. Also, I appreciate the DIY repair posts you’ve made over the years - from one newbie bike maintainer to another I’ve found them very useful to save me some trips to the LBS.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:57 am
Welcome back to life! I was starting to think that you’d abandoned your experiment. The odometer battery probably still has charge *because* it’s been -40 for months at a time, putting batteries in the refrigerator is an old trick to keep them “fresh” longer, as it slows down the internal chemical reactions.
I’m on-target to achieve 10,000km on Aaargh this Thursday. Mr Maple Leaf beat me to the mark, but I’m not too far behind. ;-)
BTH
April 20th, 2009 at 6:07 am
I did, essentially, abandon the experiment for awhile. In fact, I rather thought it was complete. Riding a $99 bike for 4,000 Km, or 10,000 Km in your case and Maple Leaf’s case, demonstrates rather clearly that a cheapo bike can be a reasonable mode of transport, if maintained properly.
I haven’t so much started the experiment again as simply started riding the bike. I debated buying a better bike to make the commutes more enjoyable, but can’t seem to bring myself to thrown out a perfectly good bike, even if did cost only $99. I guess I’m stuck with the thing for awhile.
One of the earliest cheapo-bikes/long-distance blogs I found was by a young guy named Tudor Costache who took his Canadian Tire bike on a long distance road trip, then had it literally fall apart on him. ( http://www.bikeofdoom.com/2007/04/06/the-purple-monster/ )
In some ways I rather long for that experience with the Bike of Doom.
April 21st, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Now now, don’t be like that. For me the biggest drag has been keeping a ride log, the actual *riding* of the bike hasn’t been too bad at all.
BTH
October 15th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
What are Winnipegers thinking about?
http://www.focusonwinnipeg.com/