My wife and I started riding in March, and I LOVE it. I’m starting to ride my bike to work a couple of days a week (15 miles one way), and have already put several hundred miles on my bike. When we bought the bikes, we bought a maintenance plan (unlimited tune-ups, etc for 3 years). I figured this was a good investment since I knew NOTHING about bike maintanence, but knew I wanted to keep my bike (which was a decent sized investment) in good operating condition while I accumulated the knowledge and any tools necessary to do it myself.

All of that is to say that if you run across any books, videos, on-line articles, etc that you like for learning basic bike maintenance (and intermediate and advanced), I’d love it if you shared (and I’ll do the same).

Also, I have to admit, part of the reason I was willing to part with that much money for a “bike” was reading your blog and realizing that it could be an investment…and it’s already paying off. I’ve lost over 50 pounds, have started getting in shape again, and have already come off of 1 of my medicines for blood pressure (and am working on my doc to let me come off the other…we’ll see in another 2 months since I’m keeping a log, but the odds of it happening are looking good to me). So between the money I’ll save on gas a few days a week, and the money I’ll hopefully be saving on medicine, it will definately be worth the price (though now I’m hooked and am saving for a true road bike since I have a cyclo-cross bike).

I could teach you how to shoot guns and how to make a basic cob or strawbale structure but I’m a bit far away, unfortunately. Still, I really like this idea of teaching exchange. Some of my friends and I did this with various martial arts styles a few years ago, but it would be cool to expand it even more.

Try http://bicycletutor.com I seriously think I could learn to do a lot more than I know now, which is essentially fixing flats, cleaning drivetrains, and truing wheels that are slightly out, by watching the tutorials. In the beginning he typically shows you exactly the tools you need (this is personally my biggest stumbling block, since I’ve never really worked with my hands) and then goes on to do the job.

@Bruno – As far as I remember you’re pretty far from the SF bay area, right?

@mjmcinto – 50 pounds? Wow! Once you upgrade, don’t get a bike with wheels with too few spokes. Everytime I ding them I have to true the damn things and if a spoke goes, the bike becomes unrideable. If I could do all over, I’d get as many spokes as possible, steel frame, and 9 speed shimano (and nothing below the 105 level).

@Chris – Another countryman?

@Septimus39 – About 2 days away I reckon?

@FB – We seem to have a brain drain going to the Anglo-Saxon countries. I don’t know if they still do it, but when I was in school they tried to teach us British English complete with Oxford accent. Of course that idea got turned upside down as soon as we started understanding what they said on TV (TV programs in Denmark are not dubbed.) It’s pretty much a second language over there. I’ll be on the consumerism commentary podcast in the near future and then you can all get to hear my accented ramblings

I have learned a considerable amount about bike repair over the last few months. There are a few specialized tools you will need, but you could get all the specialized tools for less than a hundred dollars. I would say the best way to learn how to repair/rebuild a bike is to get as much experience as possible. I have been getting bikes for free from various sources and working on them. There really isn’t any magic to working on a bike, some things just take a lot of practice.

I second your opinion on wheels with fewer spokes. I bought a bike a few months back and the wheels only had 24 spokes. The back rim got badly out of true after hitting a curb. I was able to true it up, but then starting having spokes snap due to the stress of the impact. It is possible to ride on a 24 spoke rim with a broken spoke, but the wheel wobbles terribly. I ended up replacing it with a 36 spoke rim. So far no issues.

I have also started getting into welding too. It is a skill that is fairly easy to pick up on, but I can tell is going to take a considerable amount of practice to get good at.

We should do a frugal camping trip in NV, I’ll bring the guns and small engines (dirt bikes). We could even make a rudimentary lathe.

You may also be able to learn a lot about some of those things by offering free labor in exchange for training. I’m sure this thought has crossed your mind.

As for shooting a gun/rifle, one way to get some insight into this is to make friends with someone who has an interest in firearms. Most guys who like guns would be happy to go shooting with you on a weekend. They may ask you to pay for your ammo (depending on the gun, can be surprisingly expensive) or cover some gas expenses if the shooting area or range is a long drive. Generally though, they’ll be thrilled to show you their guns, let you shoot them, and even let you help clean them (which is also a useful thing to learn). Also, by shooting someone else’s guns you can get a good idea what type of gun would suit your purposes.

If you don’t know any gun owners or shooters, find a range in your area and tell them you’re a beginner and would like to learn more about firearms. They’ll probably try to get you to take a course or something similar, which shouldn’t be too painful or expensive. The course won’t be overwhelmingly useful (no surprise), but the process of doing this will get you into a social circle of people who have an interest in guns. Make friends, and talk around a bit… you’ll be set. I can imagine that some of this may seem a bit unappealing, as you have acknowledged that you’re an introvert, but as you have indicated many times, networking is often key to obtaining desired things in life.

@Alex – I’m sure I can find my way to NV.

@Alyssa – But Australia is a bit far away. I know physics (feel free to ask, just send me an email), but my chemistry is really below HS level. I haven’t balanced a reaction in 15 years

@Mo – I haven’t thought about it that deeply mainly because, I guess, in research such arrangements would be impossible and that’s still how I’m inclined to think. There’s a range nearby though and I have been looking at it.

@Seth – Well, I could give you the ingredients, but there’s a difference between recipes and cooking

One way to learn a ton about sailing is to work as a novice crew member. Often these are not paid positions, but food is sometimes provided, and some travel expenses. Obviously you have to pick your opportunity carefully. There are several sites for this type of thing, some that I have looked at before:

http://www.crewseekers.net
http://www.floatplan.com/crew.htm

@Seth – To make sauce, I take whatever juice is there (some add milk, I don’t) and use a fork(!) to spread some flour over it avoiding the clumps. I don’t bother making a separate flour/water mixture because that would require cleaning a cup. Then I bring it to a slight boil while stirring. That’s about it for me.

The best way I know to learn everything you can about bike fixing is building one from scratch. Well, not really from scratch: you get the pieces and assemble yours without from the beginning. There’s no secret. I think that truing a wheel is the hardest part.

To someone near me (Brazil), I could teach some Brazilian Jiu jitsu and how to take care of your body without a doctor. All it takes is practice and determination with some guidance in the beginning.

I’m looking to learn natural agriculture (i’m trying), and learn how to convince (my) girl to have an even simpler lifestyle