Bike Chain, Bike Chain, You Tricky Little Thing

Hey all! Spring Break is done for G and I so it's back to the grind for us. Luckily we still have the weekends to work on the bike and other stuff. Last time I told you guys that we had an interesting experience with my bike chain when it came time to paint the bike. It was a great learning experience for me. G and I had painted different parts of the bike and wanted to start working on the frame but noticed that the bike chain was wrapped around it. G told me not to worry because he was sure we could get the chain off the bike. G's dad was in the garage at this time and decided to give me a little mini lesson on bike chains. Apparently newer bike chains have these things called master links that enables a rider to unhook the link and change out the chain if it's necessary. G's dad decided to help me look for a master link on this chain. He had assumed it was a newer chain. When we kept looking, we realized it was most likely the original chain on the bike. There was no master link! Now you might be wondering "how in the world did you get that chain off the bike, Hollie?" Well readers this was an interesting process. G and his dad saved the day. First they took a grinder to the top little bump of one of the links. G's dad was sure that he was going to be able to take it apart easily after that. Well, he was wrong! They had to take a hammer and little chisel to one of the links and knock it off. We got the chain removed. I never knew any of that about bike chains. We're probably going to soak the old chain in oil and add a master link to it. If the bike chain had survived since May '78, it obviously was made really well.

Hopefully this weekend G and I can spend a little time fixing up Gretta, the Schwinn Hollywood. She just seemed like a Gretta to me. I'm really excited because my mom and dad decided to contribute to the "Let's get Hollie's bike riding" fund so we can really get moving on some the parts we  need. Check back in for the next entry about all the stuff Gretta still needs to get up and going!