did you get the crank working?

"I'm working on the bottom bracket today," I said to Bekah before I left for the shop.

Saturday was busier than Thursday, but I found an open stand in the corner and set up. Billy was there, and in the course of the day I met Ava, Cain and Zane. They all volunteered there.

If I haven't mentioned this before, I enjoy working with Billy. Maybe it's because he's an engineering grad student, but for whatever reason he loves to explain and elaborate on every little point of the bike.

With a little of all the volunteers' input, I gathered the correct-sized pieces for the bottom bracket. I cleaned them out until they shined. I used a small wire brush labelled "small wire brush" to clean out the grains of dirt in the threads, in the pieces and in the frame. Billy helped me find a good three-piece crank, the pedals, basically. I can't remember the names of all the parts, but they included a crank with replaceable gears, which was great, Billy said. Especially since these gears were dull. I could only find one crank of the same length for the other side, and length was about the only thing they had in common. One was black and rectangular and the other silver and flat. Whatever. Not thrilled but what I'm I gonna gripe for.

Before I put it together Billy gave me something to spray into the frame tube to keep them from rusting. I flipped the frame and sprayed until the stuff leaked out holes here and there. It also leaked out of the headset. I didn't like that so I tightened it up.

When I was sure I had the instructions right, I put the bottom bracket together, all greased up and clean. I asked Zane and Billy what they thought as they passed and they both said to tighten it up just right, not too tight so the cranks don't turn smoothly, and not too loose so that it all shakes. It was too loose, I noticed, so I pulled on the crank to give me access.

Didn't budge. I yanked. I knocked with a mallet.

"I can't get this off," I said to Billy.

He grabbed a tool and I realized it was just like the fly wheel puller I had bought when I was trying to fix up a Vespa. That didn't work out.

The part the crank fit on was tapered, Billy said, which was why the crank wouldn't budge. This tool popped it off. A few minuted later the guy next to me had the same problem so I gave him the tool but he couldn't get it to fit. I tried and so did one of the volunteers, Cain maybe, and he thought they needed a smaller tool, which they couldn't find.

Billy suggested I remove the smallest of three gears on my crank. Road bikes don't usually use them unless they're doing hills, he said, plus it was getting in my way when I wanted to adjust the tightness of the bracket...thing.

I removed it with an allen wrench but realized I couldn't find a wrench that would fit my bracket...thing. The special tool were all too big. Billy directed me to a tool chest and said there's all kinds of stuff in there. I found a size 28 wrench and voila, the stars were aligned in my favor. Zane checked it and said it was good.

Bek called around this time. She was picking me up to go shopping. I said I'd meet her on Elysian Fields, the boulevard two blocks away. I started to put things away. She called again.

"Where are you?" she said.

I gave her directions to the shop and hurried to put everything up.

She called again.

I was heading out the door and saw her. There were three kids spray painting their bikes. I had seen them in the shop earlier.

"I have to wash my hands first," I said. I turned around to head back in.

"Can I see it?" she said.

I was surprised. Of course, I said. She got to see the shop and I pulled down the bike for her.

"Nice," she said.

I washed my hands and we walked back to the car. Cain and Ava were sitting against the building.

"Did you get the crank working?" Cain said.

"Yeah, I did," I said.