Brake adjustments and a rack of my own

I can't stop cycling, literally.

After the Critical Mass ride where we had tons of hill action, my brakes were significantly looser.


As the week progressed, the rear brakes became useless, I could squeeze the rear brakes and they were hitting the grip and leaving me unable to stop with the rear brakes alone.



The front brakes weren't much better; this was becoming a safety issue. I'd almost hit a car stopped in front of me at a light at the bottom of a hill because the brakes were shot. Not good.

Rear brakes before tightening

Front brakes before tightening

I was contemplating bringing it in to Thick to have them look at the brakes. That was money I'd rather save for a new bike and time I didn't have, frankly. I checked them myself, the pads weren't so worn down that they needed to be replaced. Maybe I'd just stretched the cables? I watched  a YouTube video on adjusting brakes.



Well, jeez, that looks simple enough!
So, I just tightened the cables myself!

Could this be any easier?

It just took 5 minutes.

After adjusting the cables: much better!

Later, I made a short trip back and forth to the baseball park. The brakes work great now. I also got my first chance to park at MY bike racks.