Sunday I pushed the bike down Phinney to FreeRange Cycles, where the very nice people adjusted my rear derailleur (for free!) to stop the chain from popping off while in 7th gear. They also told me what was wrong with the hub gear: the front shift lever was broken and needed replacement. As they didn’t have the part the guy pointed me at another store close by.

To get there, I jumped onto the Burke-Gilman trail; I could get on to it by going down the hill for another couple of blocks. The trail is great riding. It was a sunny day, refreshing given we had hailstorms and sleet on Thursday and Friday. The trail goes right next to the canal - the banks were bursting with greenery and the kayakers were out. It finally felt like spring, and I felt glad to be alive. And I was breezing right along the trail after not going near the bike for over a year.

So I biked two and a half miles over to Recycled Cycles in the University District, where the not-so-nice people found the parts for me but seemed to expect me to install it myself. The parts now sit on my washing machine staring at me accusingly; given my recent experiences with home renovations, I’m not keen on trying this install myself any time soon. And besides, at the moment if I’m persistent, I can shift the hub gear into second and keep it there. I’ll probably ask the FreeRange people to do it, but no rush just yet.

I biked home, stumbled up the stairs, and felt pretty good the rest of the day. Later I also went out to REI and splurged on a Arc’Teryx jacket for myself. So armed with new gear and a sense of accomplishment I was feeling hyped enough to try to bike the four and a half miles to work Monday morning. This didn’t work out though since a bout of (ice cream induced?) insomnia kept me up Sunday night.

I did end up biking to work today. Unlike Sunday it was cold and drizzly, and I found out quickly that the slight inclines along Dexter between the Fremont Bridge and downtown were much more difficult than the level surfaces of the Burke-Gilman trail. By the time I got to Dexter and Olive, I felt like throwing up and had to stop for a ten minute breather. Fortunately I was basically downtown by that point, and it was all downhill going along Second Ave. to the office from there.

I didn’t bike home - the biggest hills are in the downtown core and I didn’t feel up to that, nor assaulting the gradual uphill slog of Dexter. But I’m going to try to attempt the trip tomorrow evening. We’ll see how that goes.