Bike maintenance class

Note that I am not using an exclamation point in this title. My excessive use of the exclamation needs to be stopped! (Hehehe.)

Yesterday Erin and I went to Bike Maintenance 101 at REI. I rode down from Ravenna and met Erin on Eastlake. We continued together from there. It took less than 30 minutes, so we made good time. We were going for a free class that covers the really basic things - cleaning and lubing your chain and changing a flat. I was amazed how much I didn't know about caring for my bike! I should have guessed, given that we got to REI and both Erin and I realized we had never taken the front wheels of our bike. We did it incorrectly, and went inside to immediately read (and then be told) how to do it correctly. I learned the structure of a bike tire (I had no idea what it looked like!) and how to properly remove the rear tire, too. Altogether very useful. When we went to leave we put our front wheels back on, and mine seemed crooked. I kept undoing it and retrying it. I thought I had somehow broken my bike. So, I took it back inside and the guy leading the training pushed on one thing and it was fine. He also showed me how to tighten my brakes. I felt pretty stupid...

To add to the evening, we put our bikes on the bus to go home. I'd never put my bike on the front of the bus! It was pretty easy using the rack/arm, but I was still nervous the whole time and watching the bikes at each bump. They made it okay - phew! When we got off I biked down to my place.

As I was approaching my house I saw Dave getting ready to pull his bike out of his car. He got a new, fancy bike! It's a KHS Flite 700 - so nicer than mine with carbon spokes and frame. Looks like a stealth bomber! I'm afraid he's going to be really, really fast now and make me look bad!