"Build day" in Santa Fe

So today was a bit different from a normal build day. We helped a local homeless shelter clean up a section of river where many homeless in Santa Fe sleep and spend time. It was different, but several people walking by stopped to thank us for what we were doing, which is always nice to hear.

Since we didn't start cleanup til noon I took the opportunity to "sleep in". I made it until 6:30, and decided to roll around for a bit and managed to fall back asleep until 7:45. Win!!! A few of us walked to a local coffee shop to get coffee and wifi and then I headed to the bike shop. I told them the story of my 38 flats and alerted them to all the problems I had been having. The owner Dave asked me to leave the bike and assured me when I came back it would be running much better.

So, we cleaned the river, took a tour of the local shelter, and then were free to do whatever. I headed out to explore some of Santa Fe. The architecture is beautiful and the people friendly. I had a great fruit smoothie, picked up some postcards, looked around and headed back to the bike shop.

I was elated when I made it to the shop. My bike had been cleaned from top to bottom, my tire replaced, rim tape replaced, everything I had explained and more. Dave even adjusted my handlebars and even in the short ride back to the church I can tell the improvement is good. I was also able to get new tubes at cost and the offer was extended to the rest of the group as well. So no longer will I be running on patched tubes!!! Seriously, for the first time in a few weeks I am not afraid at all to hop on my bike in the morning. I've felt like I couldn't trust my bike. Not anymore! Tomorrow, my trusty steed and I head to Abiqui Lake, where I've heard our host is going to make it a night to remember, and we will do our first night of camping!