John’s Ramblings

Snow is pretty, but enough is enough.

On average, we get a day or maybe two each year to see some frozen precipitation, then it goes away. This winter we have had a couple of bouts of snow, and the white stuff has persisted in staying on the ground (and the roads) making driving hazardous. Bicycling in south King County is not really feasible. The trails are still snow-covered, and the road shoulders have not cleared enough to be safe. Many of those driving automobiles seem to have lost all sense as well as patience, tailgating and showing no regard for the ice still on the shaded sections of roadway. Until we are fortunate enough to have the remaining ice melt, my bikes will remain parked in my front hallway, waiting to go out and play. We have had to cancel the Use It or Lose It rides on the 11th and 16th, as well as Terri’s Newcomers ride Saturday the 13th.

The only saddle-time I’ve had was 90 minutes of spin class on Monday. Thanks to the leader for not playing Celine Dion. Tonight will be another spin session, accompanied by Terri. She’s given up leading water aerobics on Wednesdays so that she can start her cycle training for winter.

I canceled my 2+ week old order for wheels yesterday. The bike shop in question professed that there is some sort of world-wide shortage of Shimano hubs, and they could not obtain a rear hub in order to build my wheels. They offered to let me find my own hubs by shopping online, drive them up to Seattle, then they would build the wheels for me. That seemed a bit convoluted to me. I checked with my local shop, and they verified that there is indeed a shortage of hubs. They were able to check an online wholesaler however, and find 10 of the critters in stock. When I called shop “A” to inform them of the sudden glut of hubs available online, they informed me that they were in some kind of pissing match with said wholesaler, so they weren’t ordering from them at the moment. Given the fact that:

• They convinced me I needed hubs that there was a well known shortage of, and
• They were unwilling to order hubs from one of the largest online wholesalers, and
• I would likely be waiting until March or April for my winter wheelset to get built,

I canceled said order. My local shop has a set of hubs in stock, and will build the wheels for me. So much for spreading my business around. The wheelbuilder at Shop “A” is supposed to be quite good, and I’ve heard good things about the shop in general from other folks. I may end up patronizing Shop “A” in the future, but at this point they have lost a sale. I’ll be shopping local for a while.

Bring on the rain, and let’s go riding. We need some serious melting if I’m going to lead a ride to Black Diamond on Sunday.

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