Retail

Working in retail is a tricky thing. Working in specialty retail is even more so. You need to sell something to as many people as you can that come in the door, and resist the temptation to tell them to get lost via the door they recently entered by when they ask pointless questions or don’t listen to your answers. I really love it when someone comes into the shop and can carry on a normal, functioning conversation about what their needs are. I look forward to it. The problem is, these people are few and far between. We are currently experiencing a drought in our area in this respect. I’m not sure if it’s the time of year, or just random occurrence, but the questions I’ve been getting asked lately have been nearly unanswerable. Maybe it’s my own shortcomings. I have a sign, given to me by my mother, hanging above my workbench that reads: “There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots”. In tribute, here are some of my recent favorites. No, I am not making any of these up.
Top ten:
“Is this (accessory) hard for me to put on?”
“Do you have a tire/tube for me? I don’t know the size”
“Is it always this quiet in here?”
“Are you always this busy?”
“Are you busy right now?”
“Is this seat comfortable?”
“I just want a bike to ride around- do you have that?”
“Do they have this at Wal-Mart?”
“Why are these bikes so expensive?”
“How much is my bike worth for a trade- in? I don’t have it with me, but it’s blue.”

Ding Dong....

The shop is dead. What happened? I left for a week, and returned to.... nothing. No repairs to do. No one coming in to buy bikes. It's like mid- winter in here, minus the cold. Wait, the phone just rang.... just someone wanting to know if we buy bikes. Answer: NO! ...and no I don't know who does. Actually, I do, but I'm not telling them.


Instead of doing something lame like putting together another comfort bike, I decided today to figure out why our Xtracycle had a non- functioning headset. I put it in the stand and took the fork off only to find that the lower headset bearing was not even there. I had to laugh about that one. You might wonder who would put a headset back together without including one of the bearings, but I already knew the answer. We used to have a kid that worked at the shop when he was in high school. His name was Mike, but we all called him only by his last name: Douin. Why? because it was funnier, I guess. We had some fun times with that kid, because he knew where he ranked in the hierarchy of the shop: dead last. I get all teary- eyed (with laughter) when I remember all the good times we had shoving him in the trash can (headfirst) when he screwed something up. Or the time when his friend bought a part from a competing shop and Matt told them (straight- faced) that the only way to make it right with him was to kick each other in the groin. Douin volunteered to "take one for the team" and gingerly kicked the friends' leg, prompting us to call "foul" and forcing him to repeat the action. Which he did. Then it was the friends' turn, and he must have been a former soccer player, because his foot landed squarely between Douins legs, sending him to the ground in pain, and the rest of us to the ground in uncontrollable laughter. Why he felt he needed to go through with that, I'll never know, but I guess that's just the kind of guy he was. Douin was indeed a ding- dong, a bonehead, but he knew his place, and we could function together knowing that. He took the bikes out of the boxes and I put them together. He cleaned up dirty repair bikes and I repaired them. Knowing your place in life is difficult for most people, at least it is for me, but we all must accept our station in life weather it is temporary or permanent. Sometimes you have a job to do, and you just have to do it, no matter if you like it or not. Hopefully, you can find something interesting or rewarding about the job, and that makes it worth it in the long run. I often feel like maybe I should be doing something more with my life than fixing bikes, but I haven't yet figured out what that is. Until then, I'll just keep doing what I do to the best of my ability and try to be satisfied with that. I really feel pretty good about my place in the shop right now, and I can be sure of that... because my co- workers have never once tried to shove me headfirst into a trash can.

Time well spent

So, if you haven't noticed, I've been absent for a few weeks. Last week, I was in Southern Illinois as mechanical support for the Illinois Great Rivers Ride. I had never done anything like this before, but it was a lot of fun as well as work. I also purchased a digital camera to document my trip, so now you can see what I see. The first night, we left the campsite on busses which dropped us off at a lock and dam on the Mississippi river. We then boarded a barge which was set up with tables and chairs for dinner. We dined as the barge/riverboat assembly went up the river, through the lock, under the Alton bridge, and made the return trip. It was a pretty fun way to start out the week. Two days later, we were set up in front of a reception center after having breakfast, busy airing tires and adjusting derailleurs.

It was a busy week, and we drove sag while we weren't wrenching. Up at 6:30 most mornings and working 'til 9 one night, but that was the latest. Almost everyone was really nice, and I found it really rewarding to be able to use my skills to get riders back on the road again after a mechanical problem. Plus, most of them tipped pretty well. I originally questioned whether taking a vacation from working on bikes to.... work on bikes..... was a wise choice, but after the week was over, I don't think anything could have been better for me. Did I mention I also got paid?......

Saturday was the last day we were on the ride, and we ended up back in Alton- where we started. Since we were so close, Katie and I (we're back together... more on this later) decided to check out the last stage of the tour of Missouri. We stayed at a hotel in St. Louis and walked in the morning (technically afternoon) to Union Station where we had lunch. We took a seat in the restaurant with a window view of the entrance to Union Station, and had just been served our food, when Katie started giggling and told me "look at that guy.. he's got a number on his bike and everything" I turned to the side, since the rider was now just feet from us, though we were separated by glass, and looked right at the person she was poking fun at. I waved and gave him the thumbs up sign, and Katie stopped laughing as I told her "That's not just some guy... That's Tom Zirbel!" It seems he needed a caffeine fix, and rode from the course over to Union Station, through the doors and into the mall to get to a Starbucks near the entrance. Later, we saw a Symmetrics rider do the same, (without even dismounting his bike) and some Rock Racing support guys with a whole tray full of tall Starbucks cups full of pre- race caffeination.

The race was not that exciting, and was shortened to 52 miles due to flooding on the course, but I still managed to get a few good shots (I think) of some riders. Like local boy Brad Huff, pondering the finish straight and thinking of how not to crash on it this year.

And Jeremy Powers smiling because Kirk O'Bee let him get the primes on EVERY lap.

The obligatory arch shot

Cavendish blowing the sprint or Chicci making a BRILLIANT move (however you want to look at it, but those Italians...)

Mike Sayers in tears at the end of a long career.

And a shot of my next bike, although the guy in yellow kept eyeing me and soon moved the bike behind the fence- I'm wasn't gonna steal it, I was just trying to get a look at what I'll be riding as soon as it's available to the general public!

Incredible week, and just thought I'd share a little of it with you.