This last Friday the Black Hills was struck by the ferocious Winter Storm Gandolf. Most schools and businesses closed early and took a snow day. There was just one problem…Winter Storm Gandolf wasn’t very ferocious in our neck of the woods and more like a pain in the butt. Three inches of dust that made things a mess but nothing a native South Dakotan wouldn’t recognize as winter. And as Friday nights go in a rural big town that wants to be a small city there isn’t usually a lot going on, especially on a snow day Friday night. So Jake and I did what any typical small town kids would do…
Get yer’ mind outta the gutter!
We changed the cranksets on our cyclocross bikes, duh! What else did you expect?
And a good DIY adventure is never complete without a trip to Walmart. As we installed my new Campagnolo crankset I went to put the crank arms on. One look at where the Allen wrench should go had me asking Jake, “What the hell size Allen wrench is this? It’s not a 10mm!” Befuddled we sorted through all our tools trying to find something that might be a fit but no such luck. And I was determined that this thing was going to go on my bike. Now.
So with nary a bike shop or parts store open at that late hour of the day we made the daring 11PM trek out into winter storm Gandolf to the Walmart. Because as my friend Tim put it, “We all know Walmart carries Campagnolo.”
Sadly we discovered after much searching that there is no Allen wrench bigger then a 10mm in Walmart either. Come on people…Doesn’t everyone need a 14mm Allen wrench?! What I did learn was that Walmart on a late night Friday is where all the bored high school kids go to hang out. So much for make-out point these days.
So instead of installing my crank arms with a wrench we adapted and overcame. Have to say, hope it’s the first, last, and only time a hexagonal punch comes anywhere near my crankset. Full disclosure: We did find a 14mm wrench the next day to finish tightening things up but if you see me rolling down the street on my ‘cross bike and the crankset falls off, you know why!