I found an article in the Park Record recently regarding the Fort Collins Bicycle Library in Fort Collins, Colorado. I thought I’d fill you in a bit.

With an e mail address and an ID, you can get a Ft Collins Bicycle Library card. The cards enables locals and visitors to borrow bicycles for as little as 1 hour, and as long as 5 days. When you’re finished with the bike, lock it up at a designated drop spot, then return the key. Pretty simple.

The Ft. Collins bike library opened in April of 2008, and since then has rented bikes to over 500 people from all walks. They hope to soon increase their fleet of recycled bicycles to accommodate more users. Check out the website, www.fcbikelibrary.org.

Some other bicycle libraries I found online.

Arcata Bicycle Library, Iowa City Bike Library, New Brunswick Bike Library

My experiences at the Tour De France are some of the greatest in my life. Watching it on TV is OK, the commentators are pretty entertaining. But it could never compare to finding that perfect spectating spot, watching the peleton whiz by, then finding a cafe to watch the finish on TV. Trust me, the French coverage is way better than ours!

Of course, a flight to Europe right now is around $1000, and our dollar is exchanging at a near record low. Makes taking weeks to follow the Tour a bit tough for most of us. The Tour of Utah requires a bit less expenditure on the spectator’s part.

The Tour of Utah offers many of the elements that make the bigger race in France so awesome to be a part of. Seventeen top level cycling teams represented by 120 riders make for great racing with lots of colorful kits. The racers will ride for a $75,000 purse and a new car, over 5 days, 342 miles, and a lotta climbing.

The Utah bike race is a must see for everyone. The start and finish will offer a festival like atmosphere with music, food, drink and some of the nicest bicycles you can’t even buy. Out on the race course you can find a nice spot to watch and cheer. Watch your toes, the bike mechanics in the support vehicles drive kind of fast and aren’t really looking out for you. Take some snacks, water, libations, and something to sit on and the day is sure to be a treat.

The Tour of Utah is August 13-17.

Stage 1 Sanpete to Nephi.

Stage 2 Ogden to Salt Lake City.

Stage 3 Salt Lake Downtown Criterium

Stage 4 Park City to Snowbird

Stage 5 Miller Motorsports Park Time Trial (Tooele)

Tour of Utah Website

As I realized that CyclistVillage.com is a MySpace for bike people, I felt a sense of relief. Since I’ve already burned my social networking candle at both ends with MySpace, I couldn’t possibly waste a significant amount of time surfing CyclistVillage…………We’ll see how that goes.

The idea seems like a good one, a place to cyberly interact with people of similar interests. I hope the smaller platform will keep a sense of usefulness that MySpace loses in it’s exhausting amount of junk correspondence.

We’ll see if I can make any interfriends.

www.cyclistvillag.com/thepedalwrench

For the fifth year in a row The Pedal Wrench lends it’s chief bicycle repair instructor, KC Gaudet, to the Park City School District.

From pcschools.us:

Save time, money, and maybe a trip to the bike shop! Keep your bicycle running smoothly and safely. Learn the proper way to clean and lube your bicycle, basic fit, basic maintenance, and emergency repair. Bring your bike to this hands-on class. Tool list provided in class, plus information on where to ride. Both road and mountain bikes are welcome. Limit of 10 people.

Registration and More Info

I didn’t really know Sheldon Brown. I knew his website and I’d like to think I can relate to the bicycle thinker side of the man. I was so impressed with his efforts to share some tid bits of his vast bicycle knowledge on the web, that I contacted him, let him know that I planned on doing the same, and it’s been my project for the past 5 years or so. His e mail response was short, but supportive. He even remembered me when I introduced myself a few years later at InterBike, the international bike show in Vegas.

As my web progress moves at a snails pace, I can see the dedication and time he must have put into sheldonbrown.com. Millions have benefited. Thanks Sheldon, I really dug your style.

Sheldon Brown July 14, 1944-February 3, 2008

On November 24th I posted about my Crank Bros. Multi 17 Tool. Even though the tool failed trying to remove a pedal, I still appreciate the size, tool selection, and price point. Now those warm and fuzzy feelings have been reinforced by a stellar customer service department.

Yesterday I received any early birthday gift in the form of a fresh, still in the packaging, Crank Bros. Multi 17 Tool in the mail. It took a mere 17 days for the process and only cost me the price of the original tool plus $1.58 for shipping back to the company. My new tool even has a snazzier finish than the one I sent back.

In conclusion, I highly recommend the Multi 17 for many reasons. Besides being your friend in your time of need on your bike, it offers a lifetime warranty that Crank Brothers has proved to me to stand behind. All that in a tool in the $10 ballpark, that’s pretty sweet. Buy one here.

I’m back in snowy Park City but the red dirt of Moab still hitchhikes in the crevices of everything I own. A reminder of my sleep deprived experience at the 24 Hours of Moab mountain bike race that I hardly saw at all. I’m not complaining, I saw the start and it’s probably the most exciting thing to watch. The pit area that Pereira Cycles had styled us with was top notch. A pop up trailer, an RV named Paca, and some tents, made our little piece of the desert a comfortable place to be. Our oasis also had a full selection of chocolate treats thanks to one of the sponsors, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

As far as the eye could see team camps were buzzing with support crews and racers, but I was confined to my own little bike repair world. I had all of the comforts of any bike shop ….with sandy floors. The bikes were constantly in need of cleaning and lubing as the sand seemed to work it’s way into every nook and cranny of the chain, dérailleurs, and shift housing. The single speeds were spared the shift ailments but battled chronic chain tension issues. Any of the tasks individually are simple and routine, but compounded together time after time and with sleep deprivation kicking you in the head, and coffee hardly providing anything but dehydration, they become Rubix Cube type problems to solve.

As a combination of sand and Stan’s No Tubes solution worked it’s way into my digital tire pressure gauge I struggled to accurately measure tire pressures of my teams’ riders. Tire pressure was a topic of discussion through the night. The course had a typical Moab mix of large rocks and sand making it hard to pinpoint the perfect pressure. Most ran a higher pressure to avoid tire and rim damage from the big rocks they encountered. It was hard for me to help any more than offering a pressure range to try, as everyone’s setup is different. Tire pressure should be adjusted according to riding technique, tire choice, terrain, and bike choice, and I had never ridden with most of the participants. But by the end, with no gauges that registered reliable readings, I was giving the tires an educated squeeze and telling the riders exactly what they needed to hear to head out into the darkness, those tires are perfect. A slight stray from the complete truth? Maybe not, maybe it was the perfect tire pressure?

The duration of the multifaceted suffering is what cracks the participants of this type of mountain bike race. Of course, if you overcome said misery, you gain a giant sense of something positive. I’m not sure what that something is. What is your something? I gained my something through relentless wrenching and I’d be happy to do it again.

Thanks to Katie of Panic Button Media the great photos.

Thanks to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory of Provo for the support and certain cavity.

Thanks to all who supported me while I supported them.

 Park City Bicycle Recyclers’ website, bikerecyclers.org, is now in your computer.  The site will continue to grow and change as it gets more comfortable with itself.  Bikerecyclers.org will offer a venue for PCBR to showcase it’s latest recycled bicycles, recycled bicycle parts, and thoughts on everything.  It should be mildly entertaining, if not informative.  Check it yo!

The outdoor concerts a Deer Valley Resort on Wednesday evenings are a Park City locals’ tradition. The typical Park City summer evening is perfect for sitting in the grass, basking in the sun, and listening to live music amongst friends. Blankets cover the green ski slope above Deer Valley’s amphitheater as people pull out all stops for their picnic spreads.

Chilled Conundrums, aged Blue Stilton, Caprese Salad, and other savory treats are passed among the crowd as an often forgettable musical act plays for our pleasure. The DV concerts are great evenings of entertainment that many will pedal their bicycles across town for. Bicycles are leaned and locked against anything stationary as you enter the venue. The commute to the concert by bike makes sense. The parking is tough, gas is expensive, and, though still illegal, it’s always safer to ride a bike rather than drive a car after some beverage consumption.

The gradual climb from town up to the Snow Park Lodge and amphitheater is made even more grueling by a backpack of wine or a cooler in the basket of your bike. The ability to bypass that climb is hardly why a small group of people take their bikes on the bus, although that is very nice. The bus these cyclists board is headed for Silver Lake, the mid mountain multi million dollar Deer Valley community that sits about 1000 feet above old town. There the reward waits. Royal Street is a 5.2 kilometer stripe of pavement down the side of the mountain. It winds its way in and out of ski runs and multi million dollar homes that sit empty.

The bike ride is what you make of it. Some cruise, chat, and enjoy the speed gravity dictates for them. Others choose to be a tad more competitive and race out of the gate. Every week is a different crew and has a different vibe. It is always a good time. No matter how you ride Royal Street, you will arrive at the concert full of energy, grinning ear to ear, and ready to consume.

This bike ride wasn’t my idea, but I would like more than anything for it to continue on a weekly basis in conjunction with the concerts. The ride is great and just about anyone, with any bike, has the ability to do the ride. We meet at the Park City Transit Center around 5:20. The last bus up to Silver Lake leaves at 5:30. It’s usually the driver’s last leg of the day and they don’t wait around past 5:30. The short bus ride to Silver Lake only saves about an hour of climbing by bike and once off the bus you have the option to pedal less than 10 times until you reach the bottom.

Bicycle helmets should always be worn and the Royal Street Descent is no exception. Be sure and do a full safety check on your bicycle before the ride too. Hope to see you.

WHEN: Wednesdays 5:20pm (check DV concert schedule)

WHERE: Park City Transit Center (Swede Alley)

WHY: Because riding downhill is fun, and it’s even better when you don’t have to ride up.

As a continuing effort to be every cyclists’ liaison to bicycle information, our bicycle link pages have gotten some improvements. The pages will continue to grow as we add more valuable links. Some key links have certainly been missed and we’ll try to fill the big holes quickly. Please drop a note if you have any suggestions about a link you’d like to see on thepedalwrench.com. Also, stay tuned for the new and improved photo pages!

The Pedal Wrench Bicycle Links