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04-21-07, 10:51 AM
...well, kinda.
Yesterday, I had to go to our rental office to pick up a package. Floyd, one of the groundskeepers, stopped me and asked about my bike. You see, almost every morning, I ride past him as he walks across the street to either the convenience store or grocery store. He's probably 4' 11", 40-45 years old, and a little on the slow side. He's a hard worker, though.
Well, he was asking me about all sorts of bike stuff yesterday. He finds a lot of bikes left behind dumpsters. Anything left behind or around the dumpsters, he is responsible for putting in the dumpster (unless he wants to keep it). He usually just tosses the bikes, as they're destroyed beyond repair.
Well, I guess this morning he found an old 21-speed GT mountain bike, probably from the mid 90's or so. Flat tires with almost new tread, apparently new brakes, lots of paint missing, a pretty clean drivetrain and a decent set of bar-ends. It looks like a well cared-for bike overall. He rode past me this morning while I was outside and asked him about it.
I went ahead and gave it a checkup. He fixed it up as best he knew how. BB is all set, wheels are true, but he had the front wheel QR on backwards and didn't use the lever to close it, he just used pliers on the acorn to tighten it. I fixed that up. Wheel bearings are in good shape, everything is tightened, and looks to be in working order. He went and got a rear blinkie, AA headlight and a helmet from the same LBS I shop at. All in all he spent about $60 and said that stuff pretty much broke him.
He plans on using it to get to and from the store, and he's going to ride it around our apartment complex now, instead of walking, while making his rounds. Mostly, he makes sure our sprinker systems are in order, does the landscaping, picks up stray trash and litter, and all that. His job is basically to wander the complex until he finds something that needs to be done. I guess that makes him a bike commuter.
:lol:
Of course, now I'm going to be stuck doing all the repairs to his beater.
Yesterday, I had to go to our rental office to pick up a package. Floyd, one of the groundskeepers, stopped me and asked about my bike. You see, almost every morning, I ride past him as he walks across the street to either the convenience store or grocery store. He's probably 4' 11", 40-45 years old, and a little on the slow side. He's a hard worker, though.
Well, he was asking me about all sorts of bike stuff yesterday. He finds a lot of bikes left behind dumpsters. Anything left behind or around the dumpsters, he is responsible for putting in the dumpster (unless he wants to keep it). He usually just tosses the bikes, as they're destroyed beyond repair.
Well, I guess this morning he found an old 21-speed GT mountain bike, probably from the mid 90's or so. Flat tires with almost new tread, apparently new brakes, lots of paint missing, a pretty clean drivetrain and a decent set of bar-ends. It looks like a well cared-for bike overall. He rode past me this morning while I was outside and asked him about it.
I went ahead and gave it a checkup. He fixed it up as best he knew how. BB is all set, wheels are true, but he had the front wheel QR on backwards and didn't use the lever to close it, he just used pliers on the acorn to tighten it. I fixed that up. Wheel bearings are in good shape, everything is tightened, and looks to be in working order. He went and got a rear blinkie, AA headlight and a helmet from the same LBS I shop at. All in all he spent about $60 and said that stuff pretty much broke him.
He plans on using it to get to and from the store, and he's going to ride it around our apartment complex now, instead of walking, while making his rounds. Mostly, he makes sure our sprinker systems are in order, does the landscaping, picks up stray trash and litter, and all that. His job is basically to wander the complex until he finds something that needs to be done. I guess that makes him a bike commuter.
:lol:
Of course, now I'm going to be stuck doing all the repairs to his beater.