Lazy day

No ride today. Just wasn't in the mood and had plenty of bike related stuff to do. List for today included:

• replace big ring on Karate Monkey, install and lube chain
  
• fix flat and replace tire on the single speed
  
• put new tires/tubes on new wheelset
  
• take bike and wheel boxes and put them in the attic
  

Things I didn't get done:

• track down all of my bike stuff and get it organized in containers
  
• new cassette for new wheelset
  
• finish crankset install on Bacchetta
  
• put additional rails up in garage to hold more bikes
  

We did take some time to go to the Bike World expo today. I know that this event takes some time and preparation to put on, but I wasn't really happy about paying an entry fee to wander around and look. It just didn't quite seem like that was a good way to try and promote cycling to people. I did notice a number of bikes with fenders in some of the rows of bikes for sale. It's becoming apparent that there's a market for basic commuter/utility bicycles that has been untapped. However, the biggest problem that I see is that the places best suited to educating and promoting utility biking, like any local LBS, don't seem to have bikes in a price range that the average person will be willing to spend. What's needed is a solid bike, with fenders, and a rear rack in maybe the $200 - $250 range. I realize that this probably won't happen anytime soon, but I think that's the price point where people would give more thought to getting a bike that could be used for more than a weekend rider. Evidently, there's a good portion of the bike shops out there that just don't get it yet either.

Saw Scott and Julie in the Bike Iowa booth, an old coworker, Don, in the LAF booth, the Mostly Reverend representing the Des Moines Bike Collective, and Lou Waugaman manning the Guru Bikes booth. Saw a bunch of other fellow riders in the crowds as well, including Dave Mable from AllNineYards realty, Rick Blackford and his familiy, and the crazy tandem riders from Team Cow. Kathy picked up some stuff on bike camping and trails in the southern Minnesota and Wisconsin areas. Sounds like she might want to try and get out on her bike more this year, which I am all for. I'll have to work to get her a rack and some way to bring stuff home from the store like she's been asking for. Now that the weather is getting a bit nicer, I hope that I can get Conor out on the bike again as well.

Rumor has it that the center trails are rideable right now. I'm not sure how that's possible, unless we're talking about just Hillside and Rollercoaster. There might be a ride early tomorrow. Guess I'll see what text messages show up at 6 am and make a decision from there. If not, I might just bundle up and go for a road ride instead.