Forked

I am so happy that it is finally Saturday. I spent much the work week testing the hypothesis that it is possible for me to be so thoroughly bored that I actually slip involuntarily into a state of unconsciousness. What's more likely the case is that I'm getting overly fatigued by my lingering sickness (3 weeks today), the sleep lost to nighttime coughing jags, and three afternoons of bike commuting in the summer-like heat. That still doesn't mean I'm not bored, but it could better explain the repeated, though brief entries into a torpor-like state.

Despite feeling overall like warmed over crap, I at least start each day with a little burst of energy. This morning, I took the dogs out for a nice walk right after sunrise, and then got my newly repaired fork bolted up. I'm a bit curious as to why the rebound damper knob is now far more difficult to turn than before, but I'm hoping that twisting tightness equates with oil tightness.

Since everything was already more or less dialed in from before, the installation went pretty quickly. At one point, I noticed that a headset seal was missing. I then remembered picking up a random skinny washer-type thingy from my workshop floor the other day. I figured it was something a woodrat had dragged in but I set it aside anyway. Turns out it was the missing seal. I'm just glad I found it before the woodrat decided to actually haul it away and cache it. And I really need to trap and relocate those rats because the turd piles are reaching epic proportions, and that doesn't even include the volume of the dog logs they've carried in there. Hmm, maybe that is why I can't breathe - is hantavirus endemic to southeast Arizona?

Also, of all things, I had some trouble with the zip ties I was using to secure the front cable housing and the wires for my cyclo-computer. I couldn't find the jumbo bag of electrician's wire ties that I've been using for years, so I grabbed a few out of an assortment I found in one of those bins of el cheapo tools at the auto parts store. Every one of the cut-rate ties snapped just as it was being pulled tight. I would not have imagined that there are such things as high-end zip ties and low-end zip ties. Next time, I think I'll spend the extra 50 cents and get the nice ones.

Anyway, my singlespeed is now ready to ride, though no matter how precise I endeavor to be, I will invariably find the handlebars out of whack in relation to the front wheel. I'm going to spend the rest of the day trying to convince myself that I will evict whatever the hell is living in my lungs, get a good night's sleep, and be able to make an attempt at the two easiest loops at Sweetwater tomorrow.