May 17, 2007

  • Wednesday, May 16

    A little less gloomy than Tuesday but it was still cold and foggy.  I did the same ride I'd done the day before.  Coming into Seacliff, I saw the fog starting to thin a bit on the bridge:

    I didn't hit any more rogue pine cones on my way through the Presidio and thus was spared any injury.  The sun was just starting to peek through when I was at the top of Clay:

    As I headed down I saw one of our iconic cable cars at Powell:

    I headed home for lunch and then back to work.  I had my second try at Lombardi's after work since they'd all gone home the day before.  The problem seems to be a bit more severe than I'd thought.  I was hoping all I needed was a gear adjustment, but something's wrong with the hub in my rear wheel as well.  There's a new shop manager at Lombardi's and I didn't like him at all.  He actually said to me "A bicycle is a lot like a car.  You have to take care of it or it will fall apart."  I spend so much time working on my bikes I don't even want to think about it and if I've got parts wearing out it's because I ride my bikes a lot not because I'm not taking care of them.  He was rude, arrogant, and condescending.  It made me angry and reminded me very much of the mechanics who worked on my old Saab in New Mexico who always had this "L'il lady, this is gonna cost ya" attitude.  It made my skin crawl.  He then proceeded to get the mechanic to work on my bike without telling me what he was doing or how much it was going to cost.  When you spend as much money on your bikes every year as I do, you learn pretty quickly to always find out what they're going to charge you before you let them do anything.  I thought it was pretty unprofessional and when I asked him what it was going to cost he was completely noncommittal and I started thinking again about those Albuquerque auto mechanics.  So I made some excuses and got the hell out of there.  And then I skipped my class and took my road bike to REI where the rest of my bikes go where they were friendly, polite, and didn't bristle when I asked them how much they were going to charge me.  I think the worst case scenario at REI is going to end up being cheaper than the best case scenario at Lombardi.  So now I've broken up with Lombardi.  Partly because that new manager was such a jerk and partly because REI is so much more convenient to get to and is open til 9.  It's always tough to end a relationship.  I'll bet Lombardi gets over it and starts seeing other customers soon.  I'll be looking for a new bike I can't get it REI in the spring and I believe I'll be looking up an ald acquaintance name Mike south of Market when that time comes.  Total Mileage: 28