Bicycle-v-Bicycle

An odd thing occurred on my way home from church today, yes I bike to church and typically put on nicer clothes for it too, not today though, prime reason was to help pick the church garden, also temperature at 11am can be a bit much for pants and dress shirt...

Anyway as I was making the turn off Route 4 to Durham (The only marked and lane painted on road bike route in Dover) onto one of the local roads I take back home, another cyclist coming along 4 was right in the middle of the intersection as I was turning. I actually had to yield for another person on a bicycle! Of course a friendly hello was in order. It was not returned, he seemed to be concentrating too much... thats ok :)

I continued on my way and a gentleman in a convertible pulled up along side and mentioned that it is not often you see a bicycle giving way to another bicycle, I agreed and waved goodbye as he slowly accelerated away.

Rest of the ride was uneventful :) Other than the fact that the bike helmet did not touch my head at all, I had the ol trusty Tilley hat on which was almost too much considering the heat.

Every once in a bit I make the choice that the helmet does not need to be on, for either part or rarely all of the trip. The safety part of using it is debatable for an experienced cyclist with a bike that will not be falling apart any time soon, however the setting example and showing I am a good citizen part is important and that is the main reason why I wear it 90%+ of the time.

Have a happy rest of your Sunday

Squeeky Clean

Friday was a good day outside, it was about 70 or so and a light breeze. After working in the backyard with my dad to pull up some older high bush cranberry bushes that had outlived their welcome, I decided it was a good time to break out the car-wash equipment and wash and scrub the bike. It had not had a good wash since I started riding it back in early March due to the lack of supplies I had with me in Plattsburgh. I also did not want to buy new supplies to wash it, nor hassle with figuring out how to hook up the hose to the house.

Anyway, it went very well! I was able to scrub it all down and especially the tires and rims, which had built up brake-dust on them. I guess that’s one of the many benefits of disk brakes, no break dust...

It took a couple scrubbing passes and light rinsing with the hose to get everything but unlike most bikes, I didn't have to grease anything, because everything is enclosed and resistant to the elements (or my washing) so little to no grease was lost which meant it was pretty much dirt and brake dust running down the driveway.

One of the myriad of benefits to a traditional European style bike, the fact that everything is enclosed from rain and dirt, not only prolongs the life of gears, chains and cables, it minimizes the need for repairs, prevents grease from getting on pants or shoes, allows riding all year long, and finally allows the bike to be cleaned and scrubbed down without dumping grease into the drain, worrying about getting water in places that might cause harm, or destroying any cloth that is being used to clean the bike.

Some people I feel may think it silly to carefully clean a bicycle, its suppose to be dirty anyway right? But I feel that if you have a good bike, something that does a wonderful job getting you around and carrying everything you need, that that bike should be taken care of and that includes regular washing and inspections to make sure everything is working properly.

I took some pictures and they will be up as soon as I dump them from my camera.

Enjoy the weekend everybody and try to get out on a bike! Its loads of fun!