Post by Stella on Oct 20, 2013 20:41:45 GMT
Hi, guys.
As many of you know, I've only owned a Viscount since end of April. Shawn, my beautiful disastrous red Aerospace Sport was my first and, somehow, it triggered a chain reaction. Because I had no idea about what Viscount was, I googled and found the CTC forum's thread of Busaste's. It taught me a lot about those wonderful bikes, which are a piece of British history. To make mattersworse more enjoyable, I quickly had to catch up on the weird and wonderful challenges a mechanic would encounter, since many I showed my Shawn to, shook their heads, saying they'd never seen such a BB.
So, me, being completely new to this bike business, me, who'd not even fixed a puncture in her life, had to get down to the nitty gritty and change the BB herself. Under Busaste's careful (and really patient) guidance, I managed and then some. This was some time in June. Since then I've accumulated more Viscounts, frames, and parts; literally in the grips of the Viscount fever. My goal: to spread the word, getting oblivious Viscount owners to take great care of their bikes and getting more women interested.
And the story doesn't end here, no, far from it. One day I walked into a bike shop and offered to voluntarily help out in exchange for skills and getting my bikes fixed. I ended up working a lot and learning a lot. I then enrolled into a Level 2 mechanic course and successfully finished it on Friday-the certificate is on its way.
Today, I've agreed to take on a full time position as a bike mechanic in a different shop, which is not far from the current one, and I'm going to continue to stay in the old one for a day a week as the owner and I have become friends, plus we're going to restore my Viscount Aerospace Pro together.
Next week I'm building a wheel for the new shop, before I'll help organising the workshop so I can find my tools easily. Wheel building will be one of my jobs, which I love anyway. Very satisfying. It's been a crazy time since I fell in love with my red Shawn, and I can't believe that it all led to my becoming a mechanic. I also met the most wonderful people; everyone on the forum is so supportive, knowledgeable, and most of all: enthusiastic about Viscounts.
Sorry if I'm rambling, but it just occurred to me that my weird journey started with my buying a Viscount. Almost 40 years old and still hasn't lost its magic. :-)
As many of you know, I've only owned a Viscount since end of April. Shawn, my beautiful disastrous red Aerospace Sport was my first and, somehow, it triggered a chain reaction. Because I had no idea about what Viscount was, I googled and found the CTC forum's thread of Busaste's. It taught me a lot about those wonderful bikes, which are a piece of British history. To make matters
So, me, being completely new to this bike business, me, who'd not even fixed a puncture in her life, had to get down to the nitty gritty and change the BB herself. Under Busaste's careful (and really patient) guidance, I managed and then some. This was some time in June. Since then I've accumulated more Viscounts, frames, and parts; literally in the grips of the Viscount fever. My goal: to spread the word, getting oblivious Viscount owners to take great care of their bikes and getting more women interested.
And the story doesn't end here, no, far from it. One day I walked into a bike shop and offered to voluntarily help out in exchange for skills and getting my bikes fixed. I ended up working a lot and learning a lot. I then enrolled into a Level 2 mechanic course and successfully finished it on Friday-the certificate is on its way.
Today, I've agreed to take on a full time position as a bike mechanic in a different shop, which is not far from the current one, and I'm going to continue to stay in the old one for a day a week as the owner and I have become friends, plus we're going to restore my Viscount Aerospace Pro together.
Next week I'm building a wheel for the new shop, before I'll help organising the workshop so I can find my tools easily. Wheel building will be one of my jobs, which I love anyway. Very satisfying. It's been a crazy time since I fell in love with my red Shawn, and I can't believe that it all led to my becoming a mechanic. I also met the most wonderful people; everyone on the forum is so supportive, knowledgeable, and most of all: enthusiastic about Viscounts.
Sorry if I'm rambling, but it just occurred to me that my weird journey started with my buying a Viscount. Almost 40 years old and still hasn't lost its magic. :-)
