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

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

Most Americans would consider bicycling an environmentally friendly activity. And I would agree that going for a bike ride has much less of an impact on earth than taking the old gas guzzler for a drive. But what about the footprint that cycling as an industry leaves on our globe?

Cycling is the most efficient form of transportation, but over 100 million bicycles are produced in the world annually. That is a lot of production and then consider all of the tubes, tires, and accessories that go along with that. Where will these bicycles be in 15 years? Even if half of those bicycles are still being utilized, 50 million bikes is a gigantic pile of scrap bikes. So what can we do with ridable but dated bikes that would otherwise end up abandoned, scrapped, or forgotten about?

Park City is not your hit the boardwalk beach cruiser kind of town. If a bike only has one gear it had better be an easy one. Main Street in Park City is a consistently nagging hill that I live way at the top of. The whole thing is only about a half mile and it’s only a 5% or 6 % grade, but it will leave most short of breathe and looking for easier gears. The ride home from the bar or a gorging at a local restaurant is an especially tough endeavor and you can count on the Main Street trolley to be going the wrong way.

In 2003 an early 90s Mongoose mountain bike was left in the garage of 28 Prospect Ave, my new residence. This bike was destined to spend the rest of it’s existence under the back deck. The Mongoose was not that sweet, even when it was a new bike, and now it was antiquated, rusty, and lacking in all cool factors. The misfortune of a friend turned out to be the saving grace for the old bike. The need for affordable(free) transportation and low impact excercise made the Mongoose an easy choice.

The bike needed some love before it could be ridden. Lube, cable, and housing would bring the bike back to functional status, but it seriously lacked in style. The solutions were considered and then applied to the ugly bicycle. Ape hanger handlebars were installed giving the rider a relaxed and upright position. The 26″ mountain bike wheel was taken off the front and a 20″ BMX wheel was substituted. Since the front brakes were useless with this new front wheel the brake bosses were ground off of the fork to give a cleaner, sleeker look. A Mexican flag color scheme was sprayed on the frame and fork to cover the scrapes and scars accumulated over the years. Since small details can bring the level of the bigger picture up, a “Little Homie” was zip tied to the head tube and the Sexy Mexi was born.

This makeover was a fresh breathe of life for the bicycle. The Sexy Mexi could be seen all over town, at all of the hippest hangout spots. The bike was the perfect townie. It had a distinct creative style, a full range of gears, and a price tag that allowed it to be left unlocked in front of most establishments around town.

When, Sophia, the owner of the “Mongoose” approached us about the bicycle she had left behind years earlier, I was shocked. The Sexy Mexi was reluctantly turned over, but it didn’t care. Sophia quickly gained a deep appreciation for her resurrected ride and she could be seen pedaling it about town, it even made the trip to Burning Man with her. The bike became a beacon for locating Sophia and friends.

A new problem faced 28 Prospect, we no longer had a townie. Kris Gray and I started building our new town cruisers immediately. We learned from our experience with the Sexy Mexi and allowed friendly competition to inspire our new designs. Soon we were riding around town on some new recycled bicycles. Our new generation of townies were even cooler, more functional, and more stylie. Within no time people were approaching Kris and I about getting their own recycled bikes.

So it began. The Park City Bicycle Recyclers was born to meet the need for affordable geared townies in our community. The bonus for us is the ability to use bicycles and bicycle parts that would otherwise end up wasted in a landfill. As we continue, we learn new ways to reuse different parts which makes for a constant evolution of our recycled bicycles. Our bicycles are consistently unique giving them an artistic quality appreciated by our clients.

The Park City Bicycle Recyclers offers an alternative to the overpriced townies you find at the bike shop. Besides that, we are able to cut down on the waste from our supposedly green sport, even if just a drop in the very large bucket. Remember, Earth day every day!

Keep an eye out for the website and other PCBR happenings.

If it’s one thing I’ve learned about competitive cycling, it’s 71.2% mental.  A competitive cyclist’s psychological approach to situations, both racing and training, can make or break careers or races.  The ability to climb on the bike when it’s too hot, too wet, too cold, or too windy is part of it, but knowing their physical limits is also key.  Sense of when to obey the boundaries that the body has instituted, when to push past them, and for how long. 

These basic examples are just the tip of the iceberg when talking about what a racer’s head must sort through in order to be as fast and efficient as their fitness will allow.  The top race teams will ensure their top pros have nothing to worry about but going fast.  Subaru/Gary Fisher Mountain Bike Team’s Willow Koeber told me the only things on her mind were picking up imaginary gold coins from the race course (kind of like in Super Mario Bros.)  and causing change in the earth’s rotation with each pedal stroke.  Probably why she’s such a great short track racer.  We should all be so lucky.  I think most of us have at least the slight thoughts of utter suffering on our brains in race situations, no matter what.  I’m sure Willow and her teammates rarely go into a race with a bike that is less than mechanically perfect, which is why riders on that caliber of a team have learned to not even consider skipping gears at start time.  They are well aware that they have a strong team backing them and doing what it takes to make sure they can focus on riding bikes fast. 

Which brings me to the point of this post.  The Pedal Wrench is offering pro team level race and ride support for cyclists that don’t want to worry about the chain not dropping from the middle to the small ring.  I for see the endurance racers, namely 24 hour racers, truly benefiting from this service.  The Pedal Wrench has a complete mobile shop that can be set up anywhere in the western United States.  Besides tools, we offer a pop up tent, generator, significant outdoor lighting, espresso machine, and a long list of other race pit necessities.  We can even arrive stocked with the parts your bike may need over the course of the race.

Prices will vary by event, location, and job description.  To give you an idea, a 4 person team at the 24 Hours of Moab mountain bike race will cost in the ballpark of $800.  That’s only $200 per racer, a small price to pay for mechanical piece of mind on race day.  That rate includes all the labor/bike repairs and we’ll even make sure the bike gets sent home shiny and happy. However, any bike parts used would be extra.

This is an opportunity to gain one of the huge advantages the pro teams have over the rest of us.  Seems to make sense!  Input on the value/price of this service is welcome.