It\’s not only Princess Aurora who had trouble with a spindle.

We know the story. The Princess gets stuck by a spindle; and falls asleep for 100 years. Then her true love finds her and kisses her; and Aurora wakes up. Then she and the Prince get married; and (join the chorus, please) they live happily ever after.

Tuesday morning I had some trouble with a spindle; namely, the one on the rear wheel of my road bike. I was getting ready to ride, and needed to pump up the tires. When I spun that wheel to get the valve at the top, it was very hard to turn; and brake rub was the first thing I thought of.

It wasn’t brake rub, though. My next thought was, did I do something to the pulleys while I was lubing the chain? I didn’t have time to do anything about it just then if I was going to ride; so I pumped up the hybrid’s tires and went out.

As I rode, I puzzled over it; and at some point I remembered something. Several years ago I had trouble with that rear wheel because I had fastened the spindle too tightly. As soon as I got back home, I went at that spindle; and sure enough, that was it. So it was not only Princess Aurora who had a troublesome spindle; but I’m glad mine hasn’t put me into a hundred-year snooze!