No ride today

I wanted to get out and ride today, but life interfered. The blower fan in the air conditioner burned out, so spent a good part of the day looking up and trying to get a repair person to respond, not an easy task on a holiday weekend.

I did manage to get out to a bike store in my area. The guy who owns the store and is the sole worker is a former BMX racer grown to middle age. He runs the place on a shoestring. His shop is in the front of the lot his home sits on, the building was free. He and his brother moved it into place from the business next door. Mostly, he does repair work and sells used bicycles. There are a few new GT bikes and adult trikes at the shop. The bikes are of the adult comfort type and low end BMX. But, he will order most anything in his catalogs.

My purpose in going to the store was to see if he had a used stem for my Nishiki. I've determined I need to raise the height of the bars. I'm not into speed these days, my back ain't the same as it was 24 years ago when I bought the bike, and by raising the bars, I believe the set up will be more comfortable. Alas, he had nothing either in his used parts box or his bicycle graveyard that worked and looked decent. But, he was able to order a new stem at a good price, much better than that of upscale bike shops prevalent in my area. It makes one feel good to spend money both where the price is right and you know its going directly into the hands of the person who will use the money to feed his family as well as his business.

That bicycle grave yard has possibilities for further exploration. There were a few bikes that looked as though they would make fine fixed gear or single speed bikes. I'm not too much into that, but may consider it in the future. Other possibilities include some of the used bikes he has for sale. One of the bikes definitely caught my eye. Its a Centurion Lemans RS. The bike is in good condition and the price is right. I may take him up on it and add it to my collection.