A band of Revers gathered February 20th 2010 at Ghisallo bike shop in Chesterfield Valley to gleam a sliver of founder Carrie Cash’s vast knowledge of bike maintenance. As a side note, there was REALLY good stuff to eat and drink.  Chocolate graham cracker fish, Twizzlers, sub sandwiches.  Are you kidding me? Very nice touch.
Before February 20th, I felt as though I knew pretty much about bikes. I didn’t know Jack Schmidt!
The evening started out with a quiz on basic bike parts. Casette deck? Is that the name of the toothy thing on the rear wheel? Following the quiz, we were shown how to clean a bike like I’ve never seen a bike cleaned before. Mousse came to be the operative word. We weren’t talking about maintaining a hair style here. No ma’am. We were talking about foaming degreasers that would take the nasty grime off of your chain.
Next up was what to lube, when to lube, and what to lube with. If it moves, lube it baby!
After lubing, we slid into the dreaded rear wheel removal and install. Personally, I was pretty comfortable with changing a tire but would have sleep-disturbing fears about getting a rear wheel back on a bike. I had watched it 722 times but the technique for installing a rear wheel never stuck in my head. I guess I just never had the right person show me how to do it. Carrie made it so clear that even my mechanically challenged brain embraced it. I would like to take this opportunity to point out that Cheryl has become quite the rock star in the “changing tires” department.

Derailleur maintenace was up next. The visual demonstration of how these things worked gave me a whole new understanding of how my bike worked. Derailleur maintenance was followed by an explanation of the ins and outs of headsets. Derailleurs guide your gearing. Headsets guide where you are going. Make sure that you have both in working order!
I left the clinic a much deeper understanding of my bike than I did before. Did I mention that it was a heck of a lot of fun too? We all picked up a little grease on our fingers and a lot of knowledge in our brains.
An evening well spent.
Thanks Carrie.
BR