I have the potential to get into ALOT of trouble!

So you know the phrase "ignorance is bliss?" Well I found that out last night.



I decided to skip any workouts yesterday. My knee was feeling pressure going up and down the stairs at work after the 6 mile run on Sunday. (I know-wimp). I also needed time to work on my moutain bike since I will need that as an essential part of my equipment in 12 days. And I've been saying for weeks that I need to have my brakes worked on. Now I'm pretty mechanically inclined and I've worked on my other bikes before. So how hard can that be. Brakes? No problem. I loosened up the screw, adjusted the cable, lubed some joints, etc. Tested it. Made more adjustments. Piece of cake. Brake pads seem too high, like they rub on the tire and the rim. I'll fix that. HA this is easy.



So this is where cockyness and ignorance comes in. My derailer rubs the chain when the front is in the lowest gear (or is the smallest gear considered the highest?) There's a screw, I had the allen wrench in my hand... how hard can that be? I loosened up the screw, adjusted the cable, shifted, and........nothing. It won't shift. SHIT! WHAT DID I DO? I loosened up the screw, played with the cable, maybe it was too...what? Tight? Too Loose? OMG I NEED this bike in a week. How fast can Stan's fix my bike? Will he be able to do it in a few days? OMG WHAT DID I DO? SHIT SHIT SHIT! Ok-look at this again. Maybe I can call Brad-Mr Gadget AKA Mr Fixit. I know I have his phone number. Maybe I can take him my bike and he can fix it.



Stop. Look at this again. Follow the cable. THINK. THINK. Hmmm this cable seems way too loose. Why is this cable loose? Hey-what's this thing down here. It looks like the cable should slip around this since there's some dirt/marking there. Loosen up the screw, place the cable to go around this thing, tighten the cable. PRAY! Shift...YES. So this little thing is the key. Got it. Hmmm loosen the screw, adjust the cable again, piece of cake.



When it comes to projects, I'm a firm believer in DIY, as long as I know that I can get someone to fix my mistakes. I can potentially save alot of $$ and have that sense of accomplishment by doing it myself. AND it gets done MY way. The key is knowing I can get someone to fix my mistakes if I get myself into trouble. OK-I do know my limitations and I'm not THAT much of an idoit. And I don't crawl where there might be spiders. YUK. Or other creepy crawly things BIG YUK.



Basically you don't know what you're capable of unless you try. Now I just need to apply that idea to this AR and to my workouts.