Saturday, September 26, 2009

Broke as a spoke.




My spoke broke.

Again.

It’s the second time in a week that my bike is in the shop for the problem and frankly it pissed me off when it happened. The big ride that I’ve been planning is eight days away, and I feel like I need to be out as much as possible to prepare for it. Luckily I was heading to the gym only a few minutes from home and not up in Lambertville or Bulls Island or something ridiculous when it popped. I can change a tire on the side of the road, but that’s about the limit of my mechanical expertise at the moment.

At any rate, I called the shop – Bike King in Morrisville, PA – they remembered me, my bike and told me to bring it on in. They’re going to replace all the spokes on that wheel to make sure the problem doesn’t continue – which is cool by me.

So while I’m at the shop, I ask the guys about bike shorts. I hate to say it,
but I need to invest in ‘em. I’ve been wearing regular mesh shorts all summer, and even a 20 mile ride makes me hate my life. Ya see, bike shorts aren’t just about looking homosexual in lycra and spandexor the aerodynamics of such a snug-fit – hence these loose-style shorts which are a favorite of mountain bikers and casual riders. No, bike shorts are a necessary piece of equipment because of the chamois – or for lack of a better description, ass-and-crotch-padding.

I ask the shaggy-haired guy behind the counter if there is actually a difference between mens’ shorts and womens’ shorts. He laughed and said yes, adding with a smile, “we are different down there you know.”

Yes. I know. I’ve read about that. In books. And sometimes when boys and girls really like each other, they give each other special hugs. I digress.

Shaggy, all joking aside, took the time to actually show me the difference. In the shorts, I mean.

Wait.. None of this sounds right.

He took a pair of mens’ short and a pair of womens’ short, flipped ‘em inside out to show how different they are and why. Other than obvious differences in junk and plumbing, even our bones themselves are dissimilar – the pelvis or “sit-bone” is wider on women (for child birthin’ purposes) so the padding is shaped differently (wider, of course) for that reason alone. And anyone who has ridden a bike ten miles or more understands why that’s important. Not to mention cases of sexual dysfunction in some serious male and female riders.

By the way, the chamois on most of those baggy MTB-style shorts is gender-neutral - meaning they have largely the same padding regardless of mens' or womens'. I’m thinking that I need to be nice to my body and invest in a decent pair of shorts. And be prepared to spend $60 on even the low-end. Pun unintended.

Sometimes it’s hard for a girl with my figure to muster the lady balls - aka “thatchers” – to walk into a bike shop, let alone talk about clingy apparel with dudes. You might call me fat. doughy. pudgy. thick. or cylindrical – like a Pringles can (my very favorite self-descriptor). So, you can imagine the looks someone like me gets upon entering some shops – like what the hell is that girl doing here? And if I’ve never been in that shop before, I stand there sort of dumb-founded, wondering the same thing. I’m usually only browsing anyway, on account of being broke, so I just look at all the cool stuff I would want to buy if I could afford it or if my body-type and skill-level warranted such a purchase. But my guys? Shaggy, et al? They made me feel at home right away.

Bike King is a small shop. They don’t have huge rooms full of stock that you can get lost in – but what they do have, is excellent customer service. They proved that to me when I was shopping around for my ride, and they continue to prove that to me on the regular. That’s why they’ll be my go-to-guys for any mechanical issues I have. On the bike, that is.

In unrelated news: I’ve started freelancing, so that’s one reason for my sporadic posts recently. Working is good, especially if someone is gonna give you a few bucks for your effort. Dad is hanging in there, he’s on a new chemo regemin which is kicking his ass, but we’re not going to talk about that at the moment. Also, we have a video from the blimp ride which will be posted soon, just some last editing touches to do. And finally, I have a couple blog posts which are just itching to be written: one about Vick and the other about, shockingly enough, cycling.

And on that note, I was just informed that my baby is repaired and road-ready. So I gotta go. I have a ride to prepare for.

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