Riding Against The Wind
April 9th, 2009 | by Conrad Walton |Since the weather has been bad, I haven’t been riding my bike at the beach as much I used to. When I say it was “bad”, I mean that it got overcast and in the 60s, with maybe a little rain. I do live in Southern California near the beach. We have expectations.
I had to run an errand in Santa Monica a week or so ago, and I thought it’d be great to ride up there by the pier. When I got there, I grabbed the bike from the back of the truck and found that it had a flat rear tire. I had to drive home and fix it. I’ve never done that before, so it was a good learning experience for me. Part of what I had to do was loosen the brakes so I could get the new, fixed wheel back on the bike. I figured it all out and got it all working again. I had a huge sense of accomplishment.
I do live in Southern California near the beach. We have expectations.
The next two rides were also like that. Some wind, high heart rate, and a ride cut short because I was done. I was struggling, out of breath, and sore.
The forecast was for rain, so, instead of leaving the bike in the back of the truck like I normally do, I bought it in the house. I noticed that the rear wheel wasn’t turning very easily. I looked closer and saw that the rear brake was adjusted too tight and was rubbing on the wheel. A lot. I guess I missed that detail.
How many details have you missed? What little thing that you always thought was fine is not fine? When was the last time you checked out the simple things on your web site? Is it listed in the local directories? How many backlinks does it have? Do you have an XML sitemap? Do you have a Google Webmaster account? When was the last time you checked your stats?
Maybe it’s time to check the brakes.
