Mechanic Me

I played bike mechanic today.  (Before I go any further with this story let me explain that I have never done anything remotely like this before.  My idea of bike maintenance is wiping off the frame after I’ve ridden through a puddle.)  On my ride yesterday my gears were sounding squeaky and few months ago someone had mentioned oiling their chains, so I thought I would give it a try.  After school today I stopped by my local bike shop.  I didn't really know what I was looking for so I ask the sales lady and after picking up one product she decided to check with the bike mechanic by asking, “Is this the stuff for greasing the chains?”  He looked at us like we were aliens who had no right to be in a bike shop and said, “it’s called oil.”  Fortunately, he took pity on my ignorance and showed me how to put the OIL on my chain.  He even told me all his tricks like using a twisty tie to mark my starting place, putting the chain on the outermost chainreel so that it is easier to reach, and wiping down the chain when you’re done again and again and again.  Apparently oil catches dirt and mud so the less oil that is exposed, the cleaner the chain stays.

I think my first attempt at bike maintenance was a success.  After oiling the chain I went for a ride and my gears did not seem so squeaky.  Yesterday I rode a 16 mile loop at an average speed of 15 mph, and today I rode the same loop and was able to average 16.5 mph.  That’s still not great, but at least it’s getting better.  I could attribute the added speed to my newly oiled chain or the fact that it was less windy today.  However, I think the real reason I went faster today is because I also picked up some biking socks at the bike shop today.  Clearly it was those black, ankle high, cool-max socks of wonder that added to my speed:)

While I was riding today I was passed by a group of bikers and that made me feel really slow.  Getting past by cars is no problem; they run on gas and motors so when they pass me it doesn’t make me feel like I’m dawdling.  But when these bikers went zooming by I felt a little sluggish.  I was able to keep up with them for about a mile until they turned right and I turned left at the next intersection.  So I guess I could say that I could have stayed with them longer, but the truth is they were starting to pull away from me.  While they were passing me all I could think was, “Wow, their calves are HUGE.”  They looked like footballs attached to their shin bones.  I can look forward to having monstrous calves when I get back next summer.

I also got hit by a big bug today while I was riding; it kind-of hurt.  I hope they don’t have big bugs on the West Coast.