Hugo found out about Back Alley Bikes, a community owned/run bike shop in D-town (on Cass, to make it even better ;) ). Tuesdays they are open for do-it-yourself repair, mechanic assisted. So, there I went! Hugo helped me get Granny down there, and hefted her up the stairs. There, an (extremely) attractive 'mechanic' helped me to hang granny and proceed with surgery.
We removed the rear wheel, found a new rim, pulled the tires off each and switched, removed the tire again when we found a leak, tightened the spokes and replaced the rim. The mechanic showed me what to do, but then had me do most of the work, which is really what it's all about.
I feel like such a bad-ass now.
On the way home, I realized what an asset this could be in Africa, so I'm going back to learn/volunteer and, hopefully, get enough experience to help establish some bike repair in my community. I'm pretty excited about all this, and definitely looking forward to getting more involved.
Granny, herself, was SO pleased to be healed and healthy, she insisted we go to work together, even though I was 30 min late. She's fiesty one!
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