rebeccmeister | A Day of Bike Touring Preparations

Preparing the Centurion: So far, I've had a mechanic tune up and check the true-ness of the rear wheel (at R&E Cycles). He also noted the decided lack of grease in the rear hub, and applied fresh grease. After that, I had another mechanic at the Montlake Bike Shop help with some rear brake adjustments; I vaguely recall replacing these rear brake pads a trip or two ago, after

scrottie and I noted the utter lack of stopping ability and the degree to which the brake pads had fossilized. This mechanic recommended getting new brakes going, and he's right about that. I'll add it to the list of things needing attention on my mother's bikes. On Saturday, I tested out some new Pearl Izumi mountain biking shoes on the ride up to Enumclaw, and ascertained that the overall pedal and bottom bracket situation are also going to require further work. So, the bike's back over at the Montlake Bike Shop for the day, getting the old bottom bracket replaced with a cartridge one.

I'd considered getting a crank puller and bottom bracket wrench to do the job myself (I have a feeling I'll be able to put the tools to use again in the future), but the mechanic pointed out that this style of bottom bracket requires three separate tools in this day and age, and they didn't even have one of the wrenches in stock because people generally don't use this kind of bottom bracket anymore. A couple of rear rack bolts have also fallen out, so that's getting fixed, too.

I'll clean and lube the chain, and am going to install my father's Shimano SPD's for the bike tour, since he won't be using them anyway (sad sigh). Then the bike will be more-or-less ready to roll for this hipster bike tour.

The future repair list for the Centurion and Blue Devil:

Centurion: new brakes, maybe new wheels at some point
Blue Devil: replace shifter cable, new brake pads, new tires.

sytharin would have me remove the fenders, but I think they're still useful.

Meanwhile, I've gotten a pile of foods from PCC (couscous, oatmeal, nuts, dried tomatoes, tortillas, bagels), and spent some time stitching up the moth holes in my wool cycling jersey. I'm borrowing a tent, campstove+fuel, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, cookware, and a pannier from my dad. The first day's route is mostly planned out, so I'm close to ready. Just have to figure out how to get all this stuff loaded up on the Centurion.

I don't know if I'll wind up voiceposting from the road, but I'll be writing things down and taking photos. Here's hoping for a grand adventure!