Rebuild and Repaint an Old Bicycle

After the rim on the real wheel on my commuter bike cracked, I decided to upgrade it to a more modern wheels. I put the 700C wheels from my Fuji road bike on just to make sure the brakes would reach, and noticed some popping coming from the bottom bracket, so I thought it should be overhauled. I had previously noticed a small amount of rust occurring around the braze ons on the top tube that the rear brake cable runs though, so while I was going to be "almost" down to the frame anyway, I decided to take it on down to just the frame and fork and repaint!

This is what the bike looked like when I started. It is a 1983 Trek 510 that I have had for about 3 years and have really enjoyed. I rode it on the first Hotter 'N Hell 100 at Wichita Falls, and now I use it as my main commuter bike.


Mrs. Bicycle Bill came out and took this photo. Perhaps you can tell...I REALLY enjoy doing this!

I painted the frame with black semi-gloss automotive paint.

In case you've never seen one, this is what the parts inside an old bottom bracket look like. There is more to the disassembly than meets the eye, but it is really not too difficult with the proper tools.

Here is is, all greased and back together in the frame.

With everything off the bike, it was a good time to clean all the parts that are hard to clean. This is the dirty chainrings. I cleaned them both, but only put the smaller ring back on, because I seldom use the large ring for riding around town, and also decided to remove the front derailleur.

Dirty rear derailleur.

Rear derailleur all cleaned up and back on the frame!

Here it is, all back together! I had enough shifter cable to replace it. When I get the new wheels, I will also get new brake cables and housing, and probably some new fenders. This will be just like a having a new bike...I feel like a kid in a candy store. I'm really looking forward to riding this one again!

Bad Day to Bicycle

It has been a bad week on the bike! Monday I had a flat on the commuter bike as I left the office, but I put the spare tube in and was good to go, but there was a "clicking" noise that I could not identify on the way home, but I finally determined it was a broken spoke...not a big deal, usually. I took the wheel to a bike shop, and the rim was cracked, so I have to purchase a new wheel. My commuter is a very old bike with 27 inch rims, so it is really time to upgrade the front AND rear to 700C rims. Then, tonight, Mrs. Bicycle Bill and I were going to go on our regular evening ride to Palmer and back, and I had a BLOWOUT five miles from home! (Of course it was on the rear wheel.) I put the spare on, and my attempt to air it up with a CO2 cartridge was woefully unsuccessful. I'll never ride without a frame pump again. Mrs. Bicycle Bill rode "like the wind" back home and brought the car while I walked my bike two miles. She would have made it back sooner, but got caught by a train (of course)! Here are the photos of today's so-called "bike ride".

Rambling Around a SMALLER Town....

Today was a beautiful, sunny Spring day, so I packed a light lunch and rode North from Ennis to Palmer. The ride to Palmer is one I do regularly as a short training ride, often accompanied by my wife, Rhonda. I had the day off today and she had to work, so I rode solo. We like this ride because we can go straight out Main street from Ennis, and after crossing FM 879 at Garrett, there is almost no traffic; it is almost like having a designated bike path there is so little traffic!


I stopped at the gazebo that is on main street next to the railroad tracks. Doesn't this look like the perfect spot for a picnic on a Spring day? Tomorrow this will be a rest stop for the Lancaster Country Ride that is sponsored by the Greater Dallas Bicyclist. I rode their 46 mile route a couple of years ago, but will have to miss it again this year because of some other committments. It is a really well managed rally with some great roads through bluebonnet fields if you ever get a chance to participate in it.


I love to see Old Glory paint the breeze, even if she is a little tattered. I've got some friends in Palmer that I'm pretty sure will donate a new flag to replace this one next week.














I carried a light lunch, but I was tempted to leave it on the bike and go to Jenny's Cafe. Jenny's has real good food, and on Friday nights the place is packed with patrons enjoying the food and the live, local entertainment. It's almost like, karoke, but it is a live band that apparently can play just about anything you want to sing. Check it out some Friday night!







Looking East and West down FM 878 or Jefferson Street, one of the main streets through town. This really is small town America.


Just South of the downtown area are these two charming old buildings, the First Baptist Church and the Griffith/Blocker home. The church is very active, and recently built a new building for their child care ministry. Mrs. Frances Ann Blocker lived in this home for years until she passed away a few years ago. I remember Mrs. Blocker as one who was very proud of her community and very interested in its historic preservation.


This is a photo of Wester Insurance and Real Estate. James Wester started this agency many years ago, and now my friend Jerry Wester thinks he runs it. James is still there most every day though, so I figure he is still in charge, but humors Jerry by letting him THINK he runs the agency!


Leaving the Palmer Metropolitan Area, you might be able to tell it is an uphill trip back to Ennis, and against the prevailing Southerly winds. This is where it becomes a training ride more than a joy ride. I averaged 15mph going the 7.5 miles to Palmer, and my average speed when I got home was just over 12mph. You can do the math and figure out how much difference uphill and against the wind make on a bicycle. It is still a lot of fun, though!

EARLY Morning Ride

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Today I decided to get a little exercise on the bike, then ride back home to clean up before the commute in to work. Since it is only about a mile to the office, I can come back home clean up, and then pedal leisurely into the office, fresh as a daisy!
This view looking North on Preston Street reminds me of when I was a kid delivering the Dallas Morning News. Early mornings are generally quiet and peaceful. The amber lights around Ennis are a lot different from what we had in the 60's when I was growing up, but they are softer and helped make the ride more pleasant. One thing I had not thought of before I left the house was the swarms of bugs that flew towards my headlight, and therefore all over me!Well I passed a herd of COWS! Do you know where you would find cows near a nice neighborhood in your hometown?

As I was riding South on Park Street, I passed my first field of bluebonnets. They were not really photo worthy yet, but a real harbinger of Spring. I think by this weekend, a ride to the country will be in order to get some bluebonnet photos.



I was not the only guy out getting exercise in Ennis this morning, if you look closely you can see a man walking on the nice concrete path on top of the dam at the old lake. Another thing I see a lot of these days on my commute to work in the mornings is school buses. Back in the day, the buses only ran for the kids that lived in the country, if you lived within two miles of your school, you went by foot, bike, or private car. I'd love to see more kids walking or biking to school again....

Ramblin' Around a BIG town!

Rather than cruise around Ennis this morning, Rhonda and I took her vintage Univega Gran Rally and my Fuji Newest 1.0 about 35 miles North to ride in the Tour Dallas. The Tour Dallas is held about this time every year. We first participated in this rally two years ago, and have looked forward to returning. We rode an easy 20 miles this morning with about 4000 other cyclists. The photo above is the Dallas skyline looking North from City Hall. The skyline has changed a LOT since I worked there in the late '70's!
The rally started from in front of Dallas City Hall, but the closest parking we could find was in front of the Federal Building a few blocks away. It was a little cool before 8 this morning, but Rhonda was dressed for it...we are just about ready to head for the starting line. Here also is a picture of City Hall. Yes, the building does look like it is going to fall on you!
This is the view from the starting line...it looks like a sea of cyclist...but I commented to Rhonda that while there were about 4000 cyclist here, at Wichita Falls there will be about 14,000 for the Hotter N Hell Hundred in August.Our starting position was between City Hall and the Library. This is a picture of the picture that hangs on the side of the library, encouraging use of the facility by children. Aren't you glad we have such a nice library in Ennis that gets so much use by our youth?



The City flags showed how little wind there was this morning, so different from the gales I have been riding in all week. It was a beautiful day for a bike ride...YOU should'a been there!






In the shadow of skyscrapers, the camera flash reflects off of the luminescent cycling gear.Riding one's bicycle with a large group of cyclists with varying degrees of experience requires concentration, at least until the crowd begins to thin out. Rhonda is concentrating on the other cyclists, as well as the road conditions. All of the precipitation and cold winter has caused significant road damage in Ennis as well as Dallas. We saw one of the biggest bike wrecks ever on one of the Dallas bridges two years ago when the cyclist front wheel went into a crack in the road surface, stopping the bike abruptly and sending the cyclist over the handlebars.



This photo is looking across the viaducts towards the Dallas County Jail.











The city architecture blends the old with the new.










Since we only rode 20 miles, we stopped at only one rest stop. Most bicycle rallies have a rest stop about every 10 miles. The Tour Dallas always has plenty of wonderful volunteers serving at the rest stops, and this one was well stocked with water, gatorade, fruit, cookies, trail mix, etc. You meet the nicest people on these rallies also.



These two photos are of "finish line village", back in front of Dallas City Hall where we started. They had delicious pizza for all of the participants, along with other booths to visit and entertainment. Bicyling as a sport and/or hobby is really a pretty inexpensive proposition. Bicycles are really not too expensive if you use them for transportation to replace your automobile for short errands, and going to a rally like this is a lot of fun. Rallies usually cost around $25.00 to enter, and most of them give you a tee shirt, perhaps a water bottle or some other useful souvenier, plus many of them feed you afterwards, not to mention the goodies at the rest stops. Try it...I think you'll like it!

So You Think You Know How to Ride a Bike....

It was a beautiful day in Dallas for Traffic Skills 101, by the League of American Bicyclists! Yes, it was kinda cold. Yes, the North wind was blowing. But this class was originally scheduled for last Sunday when it SNOWED! So it was a beautiful day in Dallas! There were eight students in the class, and the ratio of instructors to students was amazing!
The class included 4 hours of online instruction before the "hands on" drills. About half the time today was drills in the parking lot, the other half was on the streets of Dallas. In this picture, I am riding my bike in a zig zag pattern (a pretty tight pattern), just to get used to some tight turns, and getting a feel for how your bike handles.
One of the drills was to scan back over your shoulder, as if you were checking for upcoming cars to change lanes or make a turn, while maintaining a straight course with your bicycle. Try it, it is harder than it looks! The person in the background would hold up one or two arms, and the cyclist had to scan, maintain his position, and call out how many arms were in the air.
This picture is of Tim and George and me. Tim works for the City of Arlington and commutes to work like I do. George also commutes to work and is a member of the Lone Star Cyclist that sponsor the Tour de Italia in Italy, Texas each June. The Tour de Italia was the first bicycle rally Rhonda and I rode in 2006, and George was in charge of it that year. It's a small world, isn't it?
This picture shows George in the "Quick Stop" drill. We slammed on the rear brakes, then the front and rear brakes together, then the front and rear brakes together AND slid back off the saddle. It was amazing to learn how much quicker one could stop a bicycle in an emergency! Notice how attentive the instructors were, making sure we were safe performing this difficult manuever!
This is not particularly good photography (they missed my face!), but it certainly shows the intensity and seriousness of this drill. I'm a pretty happy guy, and I like to smile for my photos, but this was obviously pretty important! I'm really appreciative of the League Cycling Instructors that put so much time and effort into teaching these skills to knucleheads like me!

These two photos are of Richard Wharton and Sherry Lewis, two League Cycling Instructors that were SO helpful. I hope to be a League Cycling Instructor when I grow up. After the parking lot drills, we got really practical, and rode several miles around Dallas, on six lane roads, making lane changes in traffic, moving from the right lane to the left turn bay to make left turns and just generally being "traffic". It was a bicycle confidence inspiring day!
Rhonda was there, too! She drove me and my commuter bike up there, then spent the day shopping and having lunch with our son T.J. and his wife Kristina. She hung around and took pictures for a while when we were getting started, and I am so thankful to Gail Spann for getting a picture of her! There are several more pictures of this class on my Facebook page, courtesy of a really sweet and beautiful lady I'm so glad to have as my new friend, Gail Spann. Gail is a League Cycling Instructor and is in the picture of me showing how to stop really fast! She was going to catch me if I fell over. (Yeah, right!) YOU are not too old, or too out of shape, or too anything else to ride a bike. I ride every day, I absolutely love it, and I want you to come join me! It will make a kid out of you, again!