I am NOT Crazy..LOL

Sorry it's been awhile.  I am alive.  Been taking it easy with my head.  It's been a little over two weeks and I'm still working on "normal".  Some days are good and others are "sleep all day" because you did too much the day before.  

At least I have a pair of glasses now so I can see.  

I have done a little bit of piecing and will put a pic up soon. 

Cycling:

However; I am NOT crazy.  That crash I had two weeks ago was because of bad brakes.  I took the bike in after the crash to see if there was something wrong with the bike over a week ago.  Picked up today and was told the bike was just fine.  Scratching my badly bruised head, I wonder if I really did go over due to my own stupidity and lack of experience.  

I took the bike out on the road in front of my house, hit the back brake and slid down the road.  Nothing worked despite how hard I pressed the levers.  I'm not skidding, just sliding like I would on ice.  What???  Did you not even check the brakes while it was there?  LBS said they were backed up for weeks so I enlisted the help of YouTube and a mountain bike forum.  After the LBS version of "checking" my brakes, I'll do it myself.

I am not mechanically gifted...at least with bikes.  Disc brakes are harder to work on than regular rim brakes.  I finally figured out how to get the pads out and checked them over.  You can't contaminate the pads so you use isopropyl alcohol to clean them.  Got the dirt off the pads and the rotor and installed them again.  Next you have to "burn" the pads to the rotor by using the brakes over and over..or something like that.  

I have the brakes working better, but not perfect.  It took me all afternoon to figure this out via videos and the great guys on the forum.  My back finally said "I quit" and I'll finish up tomorrow.

Here's what disc brakes look like and the pads:  

      

Now it looks like I just need to make adjustments with the cable and the calipers.  Something like that anyway.

I do find doing your own work rather satisfying.  Once I figure this out and the lightbulb stops flickering I'll be a pro.