Resolve to clean your chain a minimum of every other ride.
One of the most costly components of your bike is your cassette. If your Dad is anything like my step dad, you have been cajoled, lectured to, pestered and demo'd the value of having your car's oil changed every 3500 miles. Your bike's cassette is another system--just like your car's engine-- where dirt, grit and grime can wreak havoc on moving parts.
Get yourself an inexpensive, lint-free towel that you can get dirty without fretting whether the spray stain remover can tackle it or not in the washer. Keep it handy, like wherever you store your bike or your riding shoes etc. When you bring your bike in, give your chain a quick wipe down. This quick and simple act will help reduce the dirt on your chain and therefore, your cassette, preserving its condition for longer.
Additionally, about once a month, don't forget to wipe your chain down really well, and then clean it with a mild detergent, such as Simple Green. Allow it to dry, and then be sure to lubricate each link on your chain with a good dry bike oil. After you have treated each link, take a clean, lint-free towel and wipe off excess oil; the oil has soaked into the links where you want it. Removing excess oil from the outside of the links will help prevent the oil from becoming a magnet for grit and dirt on the clean chain you just prepared.
--Just three more days to register for the Fourth Annual Girls Gone Riding All-Women's Bike Ride for just $30. Feb. 18, 2011 in Gilbert, AZ! Register here on the blog through PayPal.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Would I be a nut for cycling if I still lived in PA?
Sure, I rode bikes when I was a kid...first a teal blue Schwinn that I got when I was five and then a bright orange Sears Roebuck 10-speed in sixth grade. It was the orange one that led me to kill my front tooth in seventh grade. I was riding it home from my girlsfriend's house while carrying my red Ambridge jacket (not wearing it because for some reason at that age I felt wearing jackets and coats was uncool). The sleeve got caught in my front tire causing it to jam and consequently hurl me from the bike where I knocked my teeth on the curb. The tooth died a slow death, turing from its normal color to a pale greyish ivory and then ultimately an even more shadowy eggshell.
But I digress...I soon abandoned the bicycle when I turned 16 and adopted my fondness of driving the 65 Chevy Impala car that lacked power steering, a good heater and power brakes. It wasn't until I took up the bike at 45 that I found cycling to be the exercise of choice for me. While I haven't really given it much thought until this visit to western PA, I often wonder if I would have ever taken it up if I hadn't moved to Arizona. Here, swimming is a May 31st through September 1st activity. Few people have outdoor swimming pools because there are more months you cannot use the pool than months you can. I guess I subconsciously viewed bicycles as one more of those activities that are seasonal.
While out scouting for kitschy western PA items to tote back to AZ, (like T-shirts that say Stillers instead of Steelers) I came upon two cyclists out for a morning jaunt in Zelienople. The temperature at 11 AM was stubbornly stuck at 28 degrees. My ears were aching and my hands were in shock and I was just standing still. Yet, these two were cruising along at a speed of at least 21 mph, clad in tights, toe warmers, ear warmers, arm warmers, face warmers, yet they were chattering to one another (evidenced by the steam exchanging between them) and seemed oblivious to the frigid temps. If the cycling addiction grabs hold of a person, it's likely it won't matter what the temperature, a person with a cycling monkey on his back's gotta have his fix. After all, look at the many cyclists that brave the southwest sunshine and high temperatures to satisfy the craving. Add the early hour of riding at 5 or 6 AM and the questions of dubious sanity begin to circle.
The winter cycling situation does beg a few questions:
Are polar bottles necessary to keep the water from freezing?
How do the frigid temperatures affect the performance of carbon, rubber and spandex?
and
Do people ride with hot tea, hot cocoa or coffee in their bottles?
But I digress...I soon abandoned the bicycle when I turned 16 and adopted my fondness of driving the 65 Chevy Impala car that lacked power steering, a good heater and power brakes. It wasn't until I took up the bike at 45 that I found cycling to be the exercise of choice for me. While I haven't really given it much thought until this visit to western PA, I often wonder if I would have ever taken it up if I hadn't moved to Arizona. Here, swimming is a May 31st through September 1st activity. Few people have outdoor swimming pools because there are more months you cannot use the pool than months you can. I guess I subconsciously viewed bicycles as one more of those activities that are seasonal.
While out scouting for kitschy western PA items to tote back to AZ, (like T-shirts that say Stillers instead of Steelers) I came upon two cyclists out for a morning jaunt in Zelienople. The temperature at 11 AM was stubbornly stuck at 28 degrees. My ears were aching and my hands were in shock and I was just standing still. Yet, these two were cruising along at a speed of at least 21 mph, clad in tights, toe warmers, ear warmers, arm warmers, face warmers, yet they were chattering to one another (evidenced by the steam exchanging between them) and seemed oblivious to the frigid temps. If the cycling addiction grabs hold of a person, it's likely it won't matter what the temperature, a person with a cycling monkey on his back's gotta have his fix. After all, look at the many cyclists that brave the southwest sunshine and high temperatures to satisfy the craving. Add the early hour of riding at 5 or 6 AM and the questions of dubious sanity begin to circle.
The winter cycling situation does beg a few questions:
Are polar bottles necessary to keep the water from freezing?
How do the frigid temperatures affect the performance of carbon, rubber and spandex?
and
Do people ride with hot tea, hot cocoa or coffee in their bottles?
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