Greenhorn

By Mike Genovese

Sticky Forks

So, it’s been a really long time since I’ve gotten a chance to get in the saddle, let alone get to the garage to even get a look at my bike. I travel a lot with my new job, and frankly, when I’m home on the weekends I’m too beat to even consider going for a ride. Ahh the joys of manual labor.

But there is an upside to the working outdoors scene and that’s the inevitable short-term layoff. So here I am, fully recuperated, and ready to get back into things a bit. The timing couldn’t be better either as the weather has finally broken in Western New York, with temps in the mid to high 60’s (albeit a little wet).

So, this afternoon, I ventured out to the long forgotten garage and peered into the door. I opened it just a crack and it let out creak like that of some old abandoned home. The dust and cobwebs were so thick, I felt like Indiana Jones exploring a cave for forgotten treasure. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but that’s really what I envisioned.

What I didn’t expect though, was the condition of my ride. Of course I had forgotten to hang my bike at the end of last season, (as well as lube it up). I’ll wait a moment until the collective gasps of the mountain bike community subside. So, there it was, two flat tires, rusty chain, and worst of all, the forks, frozen solid! I really didn’t see that one coming. I wrestled the bike out of its corner, (somehow it was tangled in the tiller), blew the dust off the seat, and sat down to give the forks a good budge. After a few good blows, they finally broke free, but they were hella sticky. Alas it’s finally time to upgrade the stock junkers.

Knowing that my cousin Jay just went through this process himself recently, I called him for advice. Turns out that the Rox Shox Judy J2’s were on sale and my Cuz appeared very satisfied with them. So to the net I go but I’m just a little worried. See, Jay had warned me about this little thing called “step-up indecision” (see On the Pedals). So the plan is, no searching, no looking, just click the “add to cart” button and be done with it. I just hope this weather hangs around long enough to get some riding time in.