Good Deeds

Three Speed
Originally uploaded by Snak Shak

This weekend was pretty sedate despite the opportunities for diversion (Grand Old Days, the Art Fair(s) and of course the 48th and Chicago festival). I found myself less inspired than usual, leaving several projects unfinished, or in some cases, entirely un-started. At least I got the grass cut...

One small project that got completed was swapping out the hand-hatchet grips on my Raleigh 3-speed for some nice QBP cork grips that I picked up at HCHQ on Friday. The grips are excellent. I glued them on on Saturday and rode them on Sunday. Tons better than the stock grips (both aesthetically and ergonomically).

The only other thing of substance that I accomplished this weekend was karmic favor-trading.

One of the projects I didn't finish this weekend involved moving parts from one bike to another. needed to borrow another work stand to swap a few parts from one bike to another. If you have ever worked on a bike without a work stand, you will know that it is back-breaking work to crouch down or sit on the floor to remove parts from an unstable bike and then get up and install them on another bike. I am too old for that noise...

Work stands are not cheap, so I was not about to buy a second one, Instead, I put a call out to the Bike Lovers and was rewarded in less than 30 minutes with the offer of loaner stand for the weekend. Sweet. I picked it up on Saturday afternoon and got to work.

Later that evening, I spied a request on CL for a bike a disadvantaged kid, and connected the poster to MMRB. In fact, MMRB did me one better by donating a bike if I would repair it for the girl. I hustled myself over there today and fixed up a decent blue 20-inch girls bike for her, and will connect the bike to the needy child later this week.

I like the interconnectedness of these little stories. I am admittedly a little down and low on energy, but I needed a favor and asked, and lo and behold, I got what I was looking for. That, in turn, inspired me to do a favor for someone else that will probably make little girl's week.

And so it goes.

Thanks emma55jean and MMRB for pulling this together.