Who needs a bike shop?

So as predicted I am a horrible blogger but I accomplished something awesome this weekend so it motivated me to post. About a week and 1/2 ago, Abbie, Lex and I went to a bike maintenance class at REI. None of us know how to change a tire and since we will soon be in the middle of Iowa we thought it would be an important thing to know. Of course we end up arriving at the class late and I don't even think about taking notes while I am there, but I think I understand what we were told to do. So this weekend I had to see if I actually paid attention enough.
Unlike Abbie and Lex who bought road bikes (and are probably smarter for it) I already had a bike, but it is a mountain bike. In everything I have read about RAGRBAI says that riding the entire thing on a mountain bike is not the easiest thing to do. But changing the tires to road tires is supposed to help (and is definitely cheaper than buying a new bike). So this weekend i changed my tires so that I could start training outside again. The last time I tried to mess with my bike I knock the chain off the gears and could not reconnect the front brake, so I was a little nervous to be doing this completely by myself. But I was able to do it all and on my first try! Getting a flat tire was probably my biggest fear for RAGBRAI, but now I have complete confidence that if one of us gets a flat in the middle of a cornfield I can change the tire!