To begin, a confession: I do not take very good care of my bicycle. I tend to let problems go on way too long, figuring that as long as the thing still rolls, I might as well not get my hands dirty. As a result, my old beater has gotten more and more beaten.
But last weekend, I could not ignore my back tire any longer. The thing was totally bald, and totally coming apart on the sidewalls. There was no doubt that it would soon fail me, and possibly in a very dangerous way. I decided it was finally time to check out the Sacramento Bike Kitchen.
I've known about this volunteer-run bike shop for a while now, and have been waiting for the right moment when I remember to go visit during their somewhat limited hours.
The kitchen's goals " include providing low-cost transportation, self-sufficiency through bicycle maintenance, and safety through education." The kitchen is volunteer run, uses pretty much all used parts cannibalized from donated bikes. These are mosly stored in a huge old library card catalog with drawers labeled "front fork axles" and "bearings" and "rear suspension" and so on. They also have some new items, like patches, lubes, and bearings.
I have to say there was a bit of chaotic magic going on.
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