dreadedmonkeygod . net

One of my my rear bearings called it quits last week after a particularly bouncy stretch. I managed to baby the bike back to the car, but even that was dicey.

Same ritual as last time: pull the hub apart and replace the bearings.

The toughest part was getting the bearing races off the hub and axle. I pulled the outer myself using a hammer and a paint can opener, but had to get help from the local bike shop for the inner.

I managed to destroy one of the new bearings trying to install it, and mangle a pall spring while re-mounting the freehub. Luckily, one of the old bearings was still usable, and I salvaged an old pall spring from the freehub I replaced back in August. (Old parts aren't garbage, they're spares!) So I was back in business for a ride after work on Friday.

Three lessons:

• Buy a bearing puller. (Done.)
• Have spares in the garage, especially when they're cheap.
• When buying parts for a repair, assume you'll break one of them.

Friday's ride went great... until I got stuck behind a horse at Laguna Lake. I mentally switched gears, reminded myself that I've (almost) never just barely hit my target time, and rolled along at a slow walking pace for a couple of minutes until it was safe to pass.

Final time: 50:34.

I'm going to call that a success with the added bonus of maybe been a good ambassador for mountain biking.