Bikes Detroit (and more): August 2010

I've made two trips to Marquette in the past month, and both times ended up needing some bike parts at inconvenient times of the day. On the first trip, we got into town early afternoon Friday July 30 and it ended up being between 4 or 5 by the time I got out for a ride. Headed for the Marquette South trails via the Harlow Farms connector trail, looking to find the rest of the connector after the gas line opening (more on that later). To get to the meat of the story... I think I was on track to find the connector, found a sandy, downhill trail in the right direction... next think I know I'm on the ground at the side of the trail. Crashes happen, not sure in this case, pick myself up, pick up my bike.. uh-oh.

Torqued wheel rubbing against carbon fork not helpful for riding.

I'm generally okay, but doesn't look like I'm doing any more riding for the day... call Carmen, she agrees to pick me up at Grove and Vandenboom, in the meantime I start callling bike shops to see if there are any replacement wheels available (no wheel means losing two days of riding). Downwind no luck, no 29er wheels... nothing else seems to be open (it's getting past 6 pm now).

Carmen picks me up and I'm generally resigning myself to not getting a wheel in time for tomorrow morning. She mentions that when she was running down by the lakeshore, it looked there was still people at Lakeshore Bikes... so we go there. When we arrive it is definitely after closing time, the door is locked, but there is still some people inside. I knock on the window, they see me, but don't come to the door... I walk back to the truck, grab a credit card and the torqued wheel, go back to the door. By now they have turned out the light as well. I wave the wheel and credit card in front of the window and hope for the best. It seems as though something caught their attention, as the owner of the store unlocked the door and asked me what I needed.

I show him the wheel, he kind of smiles, and says as long as I don't mind him slamming it on the ground and using a hammer, he might be able to make it rideable. He does have a 29er front wheel in stock, a Mavic Crossmax29 wheel, $325 worth of goodness... in the end I opt for the new Mavic, pocket book stinging a bit, but a ride worthy bike available for the next day. And hey, everyone was happy, they made a sale, I had a new wheel. They also very nicely put the existing tire on the new wheel.

Old and new together, but rolling sweet on the Mavic!

Fast forward a couple of weeks, back in Marquette for the Ore to Shore race (more extensive report in a separate post). Getting strait to the point, had a crash during the race that blew out my front derailer cable.

Didn't realize it was the cable right away, but in any event I was able to finish the race. By the time we got settled back in at the house and started talking riding possibilities on Sunday, it seemed like a good idea to get the cable fixed. Went to Lakeshore first... just as they were closing, per my recent modus operndii. They weren't willing to do the repair at the time, but could sell me the parts to fix it. They suggested I try some of the other shops, so Jim and I rode up to Third street to see if anything was open - nope, Downwind and Quick Bikes were both closed.

Back to Lakeshore, they gladly sold me the parts, again after their closing time. Thanks again guys!!