Originally Posted by Ramona_W

Due to our abrupt entry into the car-free lifestyle this weekend, I have taken the bus to work the last two days. Yesterday, I got off the bus at the stop which provided the best balance between time spent walking and time on the bus. And as I was walking the 1.8 miles to the house, I thought "You dope. If you'd put you bike on the bus, you could have ridden this in about eight minutes instead of walking it in around 25." Therefore, today is an historic day since for the first time ever, I put my bike on the rack on a bus. It was good that I did because my friend in the kitchen had nothing to give me for breakfast and I wound up riding to the Kum & Go to get Cliff bars. LoP thinks I should just ride the whole way and dispense with the bus and maybe I will eventually or I'll ride halfway on the bus and the rest on the bike. It's quickly going to become tiresome to see Walmart go by twice in the same ride.

I definitely need to clean out the messenger bag tonight. For one thing, I barely had room in it for my dressier work pants and my cardigan and, for another, it's seriously heavy.

Originally Posted by Trsnrtr

Been a big sell off week around here. I sold an expensive trike (3k) and a bunch of parts. I have a buyer on the line for my Roubaix Pro n

It's N-1 around here.

Originally Posted by Heathpack

I am having a bad week.

Two euthanasias today, one death of a long-term patient Monday, a couple of "your dog has cancer & there's nothing we can do"s. A routine recheck doing worse enough that I am repeating an MRI just 4 weeks from the last one I did on the dog.

And I buy a mountain bike only to watch half our local trails go up in flames.

Originally Posted by rjones28

Bike of the day: had one of these in my workstand today.

Originally Posted by datlas

One of my former partners ....

Originally Posted by Herbie53

I had no idea @datlas. NTTIAWWT

Originally Posted by Ramona_W

I thought LoP already posted about this which is why I didn't yet. It's kind of a cautionary tale. He decided he wanted to go to Frontier Days in Cheyenne to see the steam locomotive. All the motels are either booked up or expensive in Cheyenne during Frontier Days so he got us a room in Laramie. About 15 miles outside of Cheyenne, I thought I heard a bubbling noise, looked at the temperature gauge which was almost to the top and we pulled over.

We turned off the car and it wouldn't turn back on. After we popped the hood and saw the coolant and all the oil, we didn't even try it again. I called my insurance to get a tow and they told me I had 15 miles free. That would have been great if we still lived in a bigger city but out here you can drive way more than 15 miles before running into a town that has a mechanic or auto parts store.

The tow truck driver arrived about an hour later and we discovered the Taurus has no tow hooks in the back, only the front and this made it difficult for the driver to put it on the flatbed. He was putting it on the flatbed while we were trying to decide if we should go back to Laramie where we had a room and pay extra for the towing or give up our- as it turned out- nonrefundable motel room and go to Cheyenne. The tow truck driver has a friend who's a mechanic and- as it turned out- lived 15 miles away. I told LoP that we didn't drive clear across Wyoming and break the car so he could *not* see the train plus the driver's friend was the only hope we had of someone looking at the car before Monday.

So, we got towed to the mechanic's house, got an uber-like ride into town, and paid $155 for one night at a Motel 6. We spent the next night at a reasonably priced hotel, had some Chinese food, and the mechanic told us we were in for $180 in labor and $100 in parts and he would send his grandma to pick us up in the morning.

Unfortunately, he called the next morning and said that while he was driving it around that night it quit again. He was able to restart it but didn't want to give it to us until it was right. And that is how we ended up taking the Greyhound bus home. A bus which- as it turned out- left Denver about 40 minutes late and got us home around 7:30.

I'm not sure how much it would ultimately cost to get the car completely fixed or how much it is worth to fix it since the KBB value is around $700. I told the mechanic not to go over $600 without checking with us. In the meantime, LoP is riding his bike to and from work as per usual and I am on the bus and the bike. We've decided that maybe we need to get a folding tandem that we can put in the car because we could have ridden it all over town and it would have fit in the baggage area of the Greyhound as well.

What I learned from this is to double-check your towing coverage and change it if you move from a semi-urban to a rural area. Also, I will never go on another road trip without a helmet and closed-toed shoes since the city of Cheyenne provides bikes which are free for anyone to use and that would have saved us at least seven miles of walking. You live and you learn as the bus driver said this morning. I'd been intending to become less car dependent; I just hadn't imagined that it wouldn't be my choice.

I learned two things

Originally Posted by Doug28450

Should I start a thread asking if I got a good deal and the right size bike?

Should I start another thread asking what wheels I should get as an "upgrade"?

Originally Posted by datlas

Good club ride yesterday and quick run this morning before work.

Conclusion: Cycling>Running>>Work

Originally Posted by Trsnrtr

That is quite the tale and reminds me of some of the things my wife and I went through in our younger years. Some day, you'll say to each other, "Remember when..."

Until then, sorry you had to go through all that.

Originally Posted by LesterOfPuppets

Plus, no chainslap and easy belt drive install.

Originally Posted by Doug28450

Should I start a thread asking if I got a good deal and the right size bike?

Should I start another thread asking what wheels I should get as an "upgrade"?

Originally Posted by BillyD

My convention watching was interrupted last night by a stray dog wandering into my yard. While Sadie went nuts over the territorial intrusion, I called for the dog warden to come pick up the stray - a nice, calm, very friendly boxer.

It was only afterwards that I realized I missed my opportunity to get rid of the high-strung Sadie. I could have kept the calm boxer and told the dog warden the stray was the Rottweiler.

Originally Posted by PepeM

Yes.

Vuelta.

Originally Posted by Dan333SP

This could be a spinoff thread idea.

Originally Posted by BillyD

Always the kidder.

Originally Posted by rjones28

I have a set of Vueltas on the Frankenbike.

Originally Posted by PepeM

I crashed on my way back home yesterday. The road was a bit wet but I didn't think much of it. Then as soon as I turned left on a corner both my tires lost traction and down I went. No big deal, just a few small scratches, with the main damage being my white bartape now having a bit of black on it. A couple blocks later I found another similarly 'wet' road but this one had a sign that said 'Caution: Fresh Oil.' Not sure who thought it was a good idea to dump 'fresh oil' on the roads but there you go.

Originally Posted by Dan333SP

Should have counter steered and powered through the turn. You wouldn't have gone down.

Roads need to be lubed at regular intervals, not surprised you were caught out by the oil. You probably don't even lube your sidewalks around your apartment. It's the neighborly thing to do.