I like wrenching but I am a procrastinator and my work space is messy. It's best when I start a project to have clean surface, and that means cleaning up before starting, so stuff gets delayed and all I end up doing is lubing the chain and waiting for things to get critical before starting repairs. But I do like the meditative aspect of wrenching my bikes.

But it is in the service of riding that I do it, not just for its own sake. I even like climbing hills...in the heat.

I like to work on my bikes and then ride them. The two can't exist without each other. If I stop wrenching, my bike will fall to pieces. If I stop riding, my bike won't need wrenching.

There's wrenching and there's tinkering.

I LOVE tinkering with my own bikes. To take a frameset and a concept and assemble a bike for some particular purpose that just looks and feels "right" is my idea of bliss. I used to joke that the only reason I rode was so that I could check out how my tinkering was working. Tinkering is good.

Wrenching is working on somebody else's bike. That's usually not nearly as much fun. There's usually not much creativity or art involved, it's just doing it for money. You're a wrench wench.

My wife recently said that she's never seen me as happy as when I was recently rebuilding/updating two bikes: an '85 Miyata 310 for my daughter (older than she is), and my own '79 912 that I'd bought new and now is every bit as satisfying to ride as my Rambouillet. When I was doing the first I discovered that I had nearly all the nice parts needed for the 912 upgrade.

And yes, I enjoy the riding, especially when it's with my wife who is an excellent and strong rider, as much as the wrenching and wheel/hub rebuilds.

I'm now starting to help friends and neighbors with their bike wrenching. One neighbor just told me about an old Legnano that needs help, starting with wheel builds, and I've got a 40-year old Centurion Super Le Mans in the work stand for a work colleague.

I have never bought a complete bike. I have bought frames and built them up. I love "tinkering" with my bikes, too. I like building up a bike and giving it away to a friend or relative when I can. I am trying to get them all on bikes.

I certainly enjoy wrenching, even though I did it as a job for decades, but there's no competition - I'd rather be outside riding. It's not only the riding and exercise itself, but also the sights and experiences that go with it, and the meditative state one enters that helps bring up all kinds of creative ideas and insights.