Try, Try Again

Bikin Gail in Action

In June, I tried taking the LCI course, but an unexpected hospital visit led me to drop out. Another seminar was scheduled in Plano on the first weekend in November. It got postponed due to low signup. Perhaps the third time will be the charm. This time it is the last weekend in January. I don't know why most people join or remain in LAB - I'm not a pollster, but it's why I joined. Bike Ed is something the world needs more of and, at the moment, LAB is the only nationally recognized Bike Ed entity that will teach regular people.

HOWEVER, in honor of Dan G, who was so kind as to credit busting a Presta valve as an “ABC Quick Check” success, of Richard, whose "Presta is Besta" proved ever so true, of "BikinGail," whose advice always seemed to come true in unexpected ways, and Regina G, who made the class assignment equivalent to assigning a forging convict to teach a drawing course, here is THE POST I NEVER MADE. I wrote it early last June, right before we had our first class session. As you may see, “ABC” is a recurring theme with me. It's been revisited again more than once since I wrote the post, including Doohickie noting an "ABC Cheat" I got caught at last weekend. Contrary to appearances, the "ABC Cheat" did not involve air in any way and it didn't even involve the rear brake I changed only days before.

Regina at June LCI Course in Plano

Dan G Says THIS Broken Presta Valve is an ABC Success

So How Special is That?

One of the aspects to learning how to instruct people in cycling is they actually expect you to TEACH stuff! I’m wondering if my seminar instructor might have been sneaking looks at my blog before assigning me to talk about “ABC Quick Check.” Yes, this topic got assigned to the guy who couldn’t figure out how to use a CO2 pump. The guy who carried a tube with a Schrader valve around for months – on his bike that has Presta rims. The guy who rode 1500 miles on a tire with a bulge just to see how far he could go before it “let go.” The guy who noticed his brakes dragging the morning after he adjusted them, before leaving the house, and decided to ride to work anyway, figuring that the drag would go away (it did, after he adjusted the brakes again upon his return home). The guy who tested chains in Simple Green to see if they’d really crack. The guy who rode through the entire HH100 with a rear derailleur that emulated a mouse choral concert. The guy that kept his front quick release 120 degrees clockwise from the recommended position so water wouldn’t leak in and bugger up the computer sender battery if it got wet. I can imagine my instructor chuckling to herself and noting “I’ll fix HIS little red wagon!” Seriously, how badly can I embarrass myself in eight minutes? Remedial “ABC” indeed. Who says seminar instructors have no sense of humor?

More problematic is I got assigned “lane position” as a shared second topic. Perhaps I’ll let my fellow student do the bulk of the talking on this one. I don’t think “the line of sweetness” is what they’re looking for when instructing someone in T101. I don’t think T101 students are ready to hear about how sometimes roads narrow or widen in ways that affect cyclists, but that motorists don’t even notice, or even how to deal with a police officer that does not like your particular lane position. Maybe I’ll chime in and tell them “when in a bike lane, ride outside the door zone,” and “choose the right-hand lane that serves your destination.” This seems like a subject designed to get me into some sort of PC trouble.



Buddy, Right After Steve Got CAUGHT by Doohickie in an "ABC Cheat"

 Yup, REMEDIAL ABC!