The General Assembly of Mountain Bikes

This will be an experimental post. I'll tell the story of my time at Presbyterian General Assembly this morning but to relieve potential boredom I'll illustrate it with pictures on how overhaul my mountian bike (which I did when I got home). Enjoy.

(I like to use quality oils and grease. The tools you'll need... A couple of allen keys, chain whip, Special chain tool made by me, Bottom bracket tool, Cassette tool, crank extractor and a mother of a shifter.)

It was a cool morning ride. Mikey, Damo and myself took a brisk ride out to Montrose (Behind the flannel curtain) for the General Assembly (30mins if you please).

(One dirty mis-shifting drivetrain... check!)

It was a... well... experience. I view these things as a sort of necessary evil.

(Remove all parts for cleaning using tools. You'll need a rag handy maybe a couple it's a dirty job.)

The blokes were mostly grey haired and older (obviously they are elders). One bloke had massive thick glasses AND was using a magnifying glass that would have done Sherlock Homes proud. I felt a little out of place especially in the shorts which I wore to ride out there.

(I clean the chain and cogs in 2 stroke fuel. The oil helps lubricate the chain and fuel cleans out the grime quite well as you can see. The rest I cleaned with a rag.)

"Mr Moderator I move that we accept motion 10.1.3.4.6.8.4.5 Sub clause 3B"
"Seconder"
"Those in favour say 'I' those again 'No' "
"Motion carried"

(Put all pieces now cleaned on the workbench for re-assembly)

At times I had to hide my laughter as some of the people speaking/motions were classic. There were also some delegates who acted a bit like naughty school children which made things entertaining. (I won't name names but it wasn't Mikey)

(Reassemble clean drivetrain taking care to do up all bolts tightly... lastly re-oil the chain with quality lube and put it back on the bike)

Although it got tiring at times I didn't mind the experience. I've not really ever been one to complain about church governance. Sometimes one has to work with the system rather than against it.

(Nice clean shiny drivetrain now shifting nicely)

I also have a new-found respect for a number of the decision makers in the Presbyterian Church in Tassie.

 

2 comments:

Laura said... 5/17/2007 1:03 am  

Hm. We call them allen wrenches, not allen keys. My dad calls them "dogs."

BSJ-rom said... 5/17/2007 3:02 pm  

Ahh, drive trains, sweet drive trains...

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