.:: DonnieNix.net ::.

I got an electric guitar for Christmas and I’ve been practicing a lot. I still have a ways to go but it’s really fun and keeps me busy. The full songs I’m currently working on Big Log by Robert Plant, Hysteria by Def Leppard, Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. I’ve also learned little bits and pieces from a bunch of other songs:

• * main riff of DayTripper (Beatles)
• * main riff of Jessica (Allman Bros)
• * China Grove (Doobie Bros)
• * opening of Lola (Kinks)
• * All of Ah Leah! by Donnie Iris (Power Chords!!!!! Really easy…)
• * a bunch of other riffs and licks…..

I can pretty much play anything with a guitar tab now. It might not sound right at first and be really slow, but I can run through the tab a few times and present some semblance of the original tune…

But, like I said, I still have a ways to go.

Went for a ride yesterday. It was nice. I had to keep it in the small chainring all the way but it worked.

While I was riding, Melanie adopted a 3 month old Boxer puppy. She’s cute. I’ll post pictures later. Boo is kind of freaked out, especially when she lays in his spot and tries to eat his food. He’s a good dog though, so he’ll get used to her and everything will be cool. We haven’t named her yet, but we’re working on that.

Well, after my little accident in the leaves at Dauset, I replaced my rear dérailleur with a new Shimano XT Shadow dérailleur and it worked great for a while.

I was at Blankets Creek one day in early Feb and broke my chain going up the first big hill on the South Loop. I repaired it and finished the ride, but while I was riding the next day it broke again.

I ordered a new chain and a new cassette and it took almost 2 weeks to get it! I don’t know why it was so slow coming from JensenUSA. Usually they are much quicker shipping things. Anyway, I got the chain and cassette installed and took it for a test ride around my neighborhood. Something was wrong.

The rear dérailleur was kind of jumping around and chattering. The chain wasn’t slipping on the cogs, but it was acting real funky. I took the bike to Outspokin Bikes and had it checked out. After about 30 minutes of messing with the bike, the wrench came to the conclusion that the rear hanger was bent. He hooked up some tool to it and showed me that it was bent in a few millimeters which was throwing everything off.

Okay, fine. I ordered a new hanger from Santa Cruz and it got here about 8 days later.

I put the hanger on, and it didn’t fix the problem. Alright, must be the dérailleur. I figured that when the chain broke, it must have done something to the dérailleur. I pulled it off and sent it back to Performance Bike for an exchange.

About 10 days later, I had a new dérailleur. I put it on, and took it back to Outspokin for adjustments. $10 later, I took it for a test spin around the parking lot. No change….it still chattered and jumped!!!

Well, I wasn’t going to take it back to Outspokin. I think that everything they did was wrong, and cost me more money than I needed to spend. I figured I’d try and figure it out on my own or take it someplace else.

After I got home I started messing around with the adjustments but couldn’t get anywhere. One thing that hit me like a bolt of lightning: I had not tried it on the small chainring. As soon as I shifted, the problem went away.

So…I come to the conclusion that my crankset is the culprit, specifically the 32T chainring. So, no I am waiting for the 32T chainring to arrive from Performance. Hopefully this will fix the problem and I can stop worrying about it.

I’ve been trying to ride the SS, but with the weather and other things, I haven’t been able to get out much. Plus, my level of fitness has fallen way off so riding the SS is really really hard right now. It’s been probably 1.5 months since I’ve ridden, so I’m looking forward to getting back out there.