Good Kharma Bikes- July 7th, 2012

Last Saturday, I was working on bikes for Good Kharma Bikes, a repair shop. They accept volunteers to come work on their bikes. People can come in and get their bikes fixed, free of charge. This was my first time doing bike repair, so I was way out of my element. They were very happy to teach me how to repair a bike. The first thing I learned was how to clean out gunk from inside the ball bearings in the wheel. You clean it out using cleaner and grease it back up again to get the wheel moving smoother. Otherwise, the gunk could build up and the wheel would stop moving. The bike I was helping to work on needed a new seat, which was replaced before I arrived. The back wheel had a broken spoke, so they took off the tube and found a new fixed wheel. The bike also got a new gear cassette. The brake was broken, so it had to be restrung. The new back wheel turned out to be to big for the back brakes, so countless adjusting had to be done to make sure it wouldn't drag and had a good brake time. Then we discovered the front wheel had the same problem, so more adjusting was to follow. From there, it was a few tune-ups and the bike was ready to hit the road again. The man waiting for his bike to be fixed was very impressed and thanked us profusely. It was tiring work and very hot in the ware house, so my dad and I decided to make our leave. We waved good-bye to the people we had been working with, and exited. This work requires a lot of patience, and I don't know if I am up to it. However, next week I will be right back at it!